9 Darkness Rising
by selfless1978
Summary: Facing this we will need to fight with everything we have...and more. And even with that we aren't sure we will win.
1. Chapter 1

"Move!" Ty snapped even as he pushed his cousin out of the way of the incoming laser fire. Ari tumbled easily under his frantic shove and rolled across the floor even as Ty somehow managed to clear the blast himself. His mask ties were now a few inches shorter though. "Dante! Take that damn thing out!"

"I'm trying!" Came the annoyed reply even as the yellow masked turtle was furiously working over the controls they had found.

"Try harder." Thane growled at him, ducking under another red beam.

"You want to do this?"

"Last time I did you got mad because everything went haywire!"

"That's because you jabbed a sai into it." Lavi told him as she leapt over another shot.

Thane shrugged. "Seems to work for Dad."

"Yeah... That's why Uncle Leo keeps yelling at him." Dante mumbled. "Because it works _so_ well."

Ari just rolled her eyes over it all, then focused on one of the guns coming from the ceiling before breaking out into a run. Ignoring Ty's startled scream and Thane's dumbfounded look, she ran and dodged beams before launching herself up, kicking off of the wall and landed on the thing itself. Then she just used her pure strength to twist it around until she had it shooting at others around her.

"Show off..." Ty muttered as he ran up to another one. He also leapt up, grabbing it with his hands before swinging his legs up and over him, landing on top of it. Then the katana came out and he jabbed it straight into the thing. The electrical sparks coming from it told him that he must have hit something important in there.

Thane wasn't as tactful, he just pulled out a hook sword and slammed it into the contraption from the bottom. It got stuck on the way out however and he was dangling there a bit awkward as he stubbornly held onto the weapon. "Stupid ass machine!" He snapped as he yanked on his weapon. It came free suddenly, dragging all kinds of wires with it, and it caught him totally unprepared, causing him to land on his backside. "I hate machines." He grumped as he started to get back up.

Lavi didn't even blink as she came running up from behind him, stepped on his shell and pushed off with that foot. She didn't bring out her tonfas but chose instead to use her momentum to grab the muzzle of her target and held onto it as she flew past it. The muzzle lifted up with her, and kept going as her weight pulled it higher and to the point the laser shooter snapped at it's joint when it hit the edge of it's pivot point. When she landed again it was now hanging useless from the few wires that still held it together.

"I got it!" Dante yelled, only to turn around and have his triumphant smile wiped from his face because all the silly things were already down. Fizzles of electricity from dangling wires and the debris of broken parts filled the room. He glared around at his cousins and got four unapologetic shrugs in return. "That wasn't what was supposed to happen when we said we were going to try this thing out." He told them.

"And I would love to hear the explanation for this one." Came a voice from the door that made all five wince. They all turned to the door to find a stern looking Leonardo and a very angry Donatello surveying the damage.

Dante's father stomped into the room, taking in all of the damage. "I spend months putting together this training room...and you tear it all apart in the span of ten minutes... It's like living with five extra Mikeys sometimes..."

Five sheepish faces looked back at him as Leonardo crossed his arms. "I'm still waiting."

Donatello was muttering under his breath as he began to gather the pieces he was finding scattered everywhere.

"Well..." Ty started as he rubbed the back of his head. "We, ah, we wanted to try the new training room out."

"I see, go on." An eyeridge was expectantly raised.

"But nobody really knew how to work the controls..."

"MmHmm."

"And Thane kinda hit a few buttons..."

"More like all of them." Lavi muttered under her breath and her larger cousin glared at her.

"And, um, well... It all turned on and we didn't know how to turn it off again..."

"So you decided to tear the room apart instead of coming to get your uncle." Leonardo's gaze was also by now looking over the room.

The only answer was a wry smile and a shrug. "Sorry?"

The look he got from his father really didn't seem like he was going to accept that apology. "Twenty years old...and you still act like children." The older turtle shook his head.

"This from the turtle who was doing ninja flips catching plates his brother threw on pizza night." Came the voice of Ty's mother next as she walked in. "Then got mad because I took his slice of pizza from him because Dennis ratted him out for not eating broccoli." Vicky calmly walked up to her husband's side, her own brows raised at the mess. "Good lord...and I thought your rooms were bad when you were younger."

Donatello was still stalking around the room grumbling.

Leonardo was the one who now wore a wry expression as he looked down at the woman who held his heart. "You had to undermine me by bringing that up, didn't you?"

"Well, you should have used a different argument." She grinned up at him. "Because I remember a lot of very childish moments out of all of you." Then she turned her attention to the young adults in front of them. "You're going to help Donnie to clean and fix this up, aren't you?"

Titian sighed as his mother gave him a level gaze. "Yes Mom..."

"Good, then I won't have to hit you with a cooking spoon."

Her son winced a little at that. Those fuckers hurt...

.

.

Leo was already past his anger the next day as he sparred with his son. Honestly, once everything had been cleaned up and a Donnie storm had been calmed, somewhat, he actually admitted to himself that he was impressed. For the simple reason that he and his brothers had already tried the room out, and had seriously struggled with it. Each of them had been hit by those beams at one point or another on that first run. The only difference was Donnie didn't have the damn things set on such a lethal level. If that had been the case they would have gotten more damage than Ty's singed mask tails.

He also knew his son was a bit distracted today. His reflexes weren't as quick as they usually were. "What's on your mind?" The father asked his son even as a katana came in for the younger turtle's head. It was smoothly caught and pushed to the side even as Ty's other one came in.

"Just thinking back on yesterday." The grey masked turtle admitted. "That was pretty stupid."

Leo just chuckled as he came in with a double thrust. "Especially if Donnie hasn't fine tuned it yet."

"We noticed." Ty mumbled as his blades came up from the bottom, swinging Leo's high and wide. "Sometimes playing with Uncle's toys gets hazardous to your health."

"There is a reason why we have been telling you all since childhood to stay away from his things." Leo ducked under the blade coming for his head. "They have a tendency to backfire every once in awhile.

"And yet, we never listen." Came the amused response.

"Children seldom do." Leo grinned at him.

That grin quickly turned to surprise when he went to block a kicking leg...and couldn't get his arm in place in time. Ty's foot solidly connected with Leo's plastron, sending the older turtle flying back a few feet before he crashed to the floor. Leo laid on the floor in shock even as Ty's eyes widened with it. Never, never had the boy been able to connect with a hit like that on any of them in his twenty years.

The now forgotten swords dropped from Ty's hands as he rushed over to his father. "Dad! I'm so sorry! I didn't hurt you did I?"

Hurt him, no. But Leo found he had a hard time shaking the disbelief. "I'm fine son." He said quietly as he took Ty's offered five fingered hand and allowed his son to pull him to his feet. "Your Uncle Raph hits like a freight train too. I should know, I've been on the receiving end of them often enough."

"You sure?" Ty was obviously worried. This was just as new to him as it was to Leo.

Leo decided to show him just how fine he was. By grabbing the boy's arm and flinging him over his shoulder and onto the mats. "I'm sure." He told Ty as he looked down at him. "Never let your guard down son, even to your father." The grin found it's way back onto his face. "Because he's a sneaky son of a bitch at times."

Ty glared at him a moment before he got back to his feet. "I'll remember that." He grumbled.

"You should already know that." Leo's grin grew wider. Then he placed a hand on Ty's shoulder. "Good job Titian. That's enough for today. Go get cleaned up."

A nod was the only answer as Ty picked his weapons up and put them away before leaving the dojo. Leo found himself staring at his son as he retreated from the room, his thoughts wandering. He had grown more over the last few years, both physically and in skill. He already had Leo's height even back with the whole Shredder ordeal, but was a lot leaner. That wasn't the case anymore. He still wasn't as muscular as his father but he wasn't that far off either anymore. When he looked at his son he saw a younger version of himself. And that thought suddenly made him feel...old. A feeling that only grew when the solidly placed kick kept replaying over and over again in his mind along with the ease of how they took Donnie's new training room apart. The children were rapidly outgrowing their fathers it seemed. Either that or Leo and his brothers were starting to slow down.

Neither thought really appealed to Leo as he watched his son slip out of the door. How could he protect his family if they didn't need him anymore? He took that back...old didn't even begin to describe what he was feeling.

Leo pushed all of those thoughts away though as another family member came in to join him. Arianne came striding in with her father's cocky, laid back confidence, her three sectioned staff leaning on her shoulder as she made her whistling entrance. "You ready for your turn little bit?" He smiled at his pink masked niece.

"You betcha!" She brought that staff around in a few twirls before setting herself.

Leo didn't lose that smile as he sparred with his youngest brother's daughter. She was so much like her father, but also different. Where Mikey would annoy the hell out of you, Ari's sunny disposition was almost always making the others smile. Combine that with her mother's intelligence and you had one very unusual teenager. She definitely didn't live up to the dumb blonde stereotype.

As usual, Leo enjoyed her training sessions. She was just as quick as her father and kept him on his toes during the exchange. But she did so with laughter and smiles. By the time they were done, Leo had almost forgotten about his earlier thoughts as he walked out with her. Almost.


	2. Chapter 2

All was quiet. No alarms went off this night, no mad scramble to the door to stop the latest villain that was running amok. Each room held a sleeping individual as they all got something that didn't seem to happen a lot for them. A good night's sleep.

All slept peacefully as the night wore on, with soft snores, loud ones coming from Raph's room, and cuddling. The older turtles held their wives close to them, Ari held her teddy bear. All slept soundly but one.

In the bedroom of the eldest turtle in this family, one wasn't sleeping as peaceful as it seemed. And it wasn't the one you would expect to be tossing and turning. Normally it would be Vicky mumbling and twitching in her sleep as Leo held her close. Something she had always done, but not as much now. She really didn't have a reason for those often restless nights anymore. Over the years Leo had patiently worked with her, been by her side as every single demon that had haunted her had been put to rest in one way or another. After knowing her for twenty one years, she was finally able to get the sleep she deserved.

Leo himself wasn't so lucky tonight.

He found himself in a black void. Large, empty and a sense of dread faintly coming at him. that's all there was. Dread. Nothing else was to be seen, heard or felt. Just that looming emptiness that seemed to push against him the longer he floated there. Dread. Doom. Despair. Slowly the feeling grew until it started to overwhelm him. Destruction. Death.

Leo tried to fight back against the feeling, tried to wake from this emptiness that wasn't as empty as it seemed. Something was there and it grew closer. He frantically searched for a way out of this pit but nothing was to be found to help him. He was held there as it drew ever closer. Annihilation. Obliteration. It was coming and all would be laid waste before it.

His body was tossing in his sleep hard enough to wake his sleeping wife, but he felt nothing as the presence grew. It suffocated him, crushed him. Agony. Pain. Evil.

Visions now flashed in front of him. Cities in ruin, countless lives lost. Fires raging, tides churning, the earth shaking and winds howling. Every image he saw was one of horror and destruction.

 _He comes. Prepare yourself._

Those quiet whispered words snapped him awake and he shot up into a sitting position. He was sweating and his hands were trembling as he brought one up to rub his tired eyes. It was a dream...just a dream...wasn't it?

"Leo?" Vicky's hand placed itself gently on his arm. And from the tone she had already tried to get his attention a few times. "You ok?"

He brought his hand back down and stared at that still trembling appendage a long moment. "I'm fine." Came the quiet reply. "Just...a bad dream is all..."

She looked at him concerned. "That much I could gather." She looked a bit guilty then. "I tried to go in and wake you up like you've done for me before...but I couldn't get in." She shook her head in confusion. "It was almost like something was keeping me out."

"I'm sure it was just me dear one." He wrapped his arm around her. "You know I don't want you getting hurt. Not even from what you may find in my head."

"I suppose it could have been you." She didn't sound very convinced. She did let it drop though as she brought her hand up to his cheek to turn his face towards hers. "Are you sure you're ok? I've never seen you upset over a dream."

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. That simple act already calming him as he let the love he felt for her drown the unwanted feelings out. "I'm fine." He told her again as he laid down with her and held her close. "It was just a dream."

But then...if he was so sure it was one, why couldn't he settle back down to sleep?

.

.

"Isn't it about time for them to move out?" Raph grumbled a few days after Leo's restless night as he crossed his arms. His glare was fixed on the wild bunch of young adults, and Mikey, who had turned the simple act of cleaning the lair into some kind of contest.

Not quite sure what the result was supposed to be as I watched bemused from the lab door. Ty and Lavi were smacking garbage across the floor with brooms at each other before deflecting it into a large pile in the middle of the room. Ari was leaping up in fancy spins and twirls as she dusted the ledges. Thane and Mikey were having a damn mop fight. Dante was too busy trying to not get hit with anything as he carefully made his way through the commotion with a can of Pledge to tackle the coffee table and entertainment center. Overall it was like a damn circus. It didn't help that Amy had come in earlier and cranked up the music. Rock music was blaring as they cleaned up the mess they made in the first place.

I just gave it all a tolerant smile as I looked up at the grumbling tower of a turtle. "The quiet would be weird if they did. We are so used to the rukus now."

Raph just grunted at me in reply to that.

"What's wrong with you? You're more grumpy than normal."

"Didn't sleep good last night."

"Oh... Look on the bright side...at least they are cleaning instead of making a mess this time."

The look he gave me could have melted rocks.

I just gave him an impish grin in return.

"Hey! Can someone get Leo?" Donnie asked from where he was sitting behind us, as usual working on his computer.

"Why? What's up?" I asked as Raph and I moved closer.

"Nothing really. Just that they released information about a decent meteor shower happening tonight. I know some of you like that kind of stuff, me included, and was wondering if maybe we could skip our patrol tonight and use the time to watch it."

"Sounds like fun." I smiled.

"Sounds boring." Raph corrected me.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Only because there aren't any thugs to beat up in a meteor shower." I mumbled as I walked to the portal. His reply was lost as I stepped through. Then I reached out to find my blue banded turtle and, unsurprisingly, found him outside.

He was over by the goats, looking out over the pasture as they grazed and romped around. He felt me coming and turned as I drew closer to him. "Out enjoying the quiet?" I asked as I stopped next to him.

"Trying to." Was his answer as his gaze wandered off in the distance again. "Was a bit too noisy in the lair for my taste."

"Well...you _did_ tell them to clean their mess. You never specified it had to be done quietly."

He allowed himself a small smile at that. I gave him a slightly worried look. The last few days he had been unusually quiet and I really wasn't sure why. Sure I knew he had that weird dream, but I didn't think that was the only thing bothering him. Honestly, the dream itself really didn't even cross his mind much anymore. Not that I knew what it was about. I still couldn't see it and he wouldn't talk about it. Something else was pushing itself in the forefront slowly though, and that I could feel. "Still thinking about Ty?"

The only answer I got was a very quiet sigh as he kept his gaze out over the fields. "What did you need dear one?" As usual, he avoided his discomfort by ignoring it as he looked back at me.

"Donnie wanted to know if we could skip patrolling tonight to watch a meteor shower. Thought it would be a welcome change from the mundane myself actually."

"That would be nice." He agreed. "Go let him know it has my approval and to scout out a safe spot."

"Why don't you come in and tell him yourself?"

"I'm...not ready to come in yet." Was the answer I got.

I left my quiet husband to stare at the goats some more as I turned to go back to the lair, biting my bottom lip as I was lost in my own thoughts. I looked back at him before I stepped back into the house. Now he was looking up at the puffy clouds and the first hints of doubt began to flutter across the bond. I just wasn't altogether sure what it was he was doubting, because I wasn't even sure he knew.

.

.

"Who brought the marshmallows?" Ari asked as Raph got the small fire going. "And graham crackers? I got the chocolate!"

Ty grinned at her and tossed her a big bag. Mikey came up with the crackers. With a delighted squeal the blonde turtle got up and started searching for the right stick to get started on her s'more feeding frenzy.

Dante, Dennis and Donnie were nearby setting up a telescope in the spot Donnie had picked for tonight's lightshow. We were in that same small park Leo took me to on our first Valentine's Day together. It really hasn't changed much since then and the view was still just as beautiful.

There was no one here but us tonight. We even invited April and Casey along and they were enjoying the warm late spring night with us as we sat on logs pulled up by the campfire.

"How long until this shit starts?" Raph asked, swatting at bugs that were attracted to the light.

"Anytime now." Donnie told him.

I took that as my cue to go get the blanket I brought with me and spread it out on the grass before I settled down on it, folding my hands behind my head. Wasn't quite as much of a nerd as Donnie about stuff like this, but I did enjoy them.

"Oh! There's one!" Ari almost dropped her marshmallow in the fire in her childish excitement. "And another!"

Leo came over and sat next to me, his arms wrapped lazily around his knee as his eyes were also lost in the lights flashing above us.

"Everybody make a wish!" Ari exclaimed as she spotted another one.

The others gave her amused chuckles, except Leo who was looking up. _'I wish for something to let me be able to keep protecting my family... Something to help me keep the promise I made them all so long ago.'_

I don't think I was supposed to hear that, but he was so preoccupied he didn't notice his thought had slipped out. But I did hear it. When I sat up and reached out to touch his arm, I was shocked to see tears in his eyes when he turned to face me. _'Leo...'_

 _'I can't keep up with them, him, anymore Vicky. I'm slowing down...'_ He blinked his tears away before someone else would see them and turned his head away. _'I'm getting old... How can I keep that promise if they don't even need me anymore?'_

 _'You can protect them still in other ways.'_

 _'It's not the same...'_

I didn't know what to tell him, I really didn't. I just sat there, floundering to put the words together until something else caught my attention.

"Um...Dad?" Dante said as he pulled his head back from the telescope. "Are they supposed to do that?"

"Do what?" Donnie went to go look just as they rest of us pulled our eyes skyward.

Even I could tell that they really weren't supposed to get that big. I'm not saying that occasionally a small space rocks doesn't make it through, but like fifty of them? At one time? And about half heading straight for us?

"Scatter!" Leo shouted even as Donnie let out a warning cry.

You had turtle family members running every which way as those things hit. I didn't even have time to see how big they actually were as I found myself dodging flying debris thrown everywhere. Rock after rock slammed into the ground as the assault continued. I couldn't see past all the dust and was even choking on it by the time everything grew still again. I was on the ground on my hands and knees, coughing and choking. Trying to clear the dust from my lungs.

"Is everyone alright?" I heard Ty call from one end of the once serene park.

"Headcount!" Leo snapped even as he found me and helped me to my feet.

One by one the family members sounded off, and they all did much to our relief. Nobody got banged up too bad. Before we could regroup through, we found out that the night's weirdness clearly wasn't done with us.

"Guys!" Thane called out in the dust shrouded darkness. "There is something moving around in those craters!"

Leo and I got proof of that a moment later as purple lights rose up out of the pit in front of us. Two of them, close together, like eyes... Soon the form of a body could be made out in the swirling dirt cloud as it moved closer, and the weapon that was being raised to fire at us. This couldn't be good...


	3. Chapter 3

"What in the hell are those things!" Lavi shouted.

"Not friendly!" Raph shouted back even as the first sounds of fighting took place.

We were finding that out, even as Leo and I dodged to different sides as the thing opened fire on us. Fuck...Leo thought he was getting old...he sure was still hell of a lot quicker than me. He was around and behind the stupid thing while I was still rolling around in the dirt. Did that mean I was getting old and slow too? Great...now he had me thinking that shit...

"Move Vicky!" I got screamed at even as he leapt up to the shoulders of the ten foot tall thing. The thing that already had me in it's sights again as I did just that. I clearly heard the clang of metal against metal as he struck at it and I skidded to a stop even as I felt his amazement.

"Robots!" Ty hollard out, echoing what we were already thinking. "They are robots!"

"They are more than that!" Leo snapped as soon as it all clicked in his head, which made it click in mine...oh shit... "Lavi! Ari! Abandon the blunt weapons! All of you, go for the eyes! Blind them, it's their weak point, then take them out at the joints! Once they are down go for the chest!"

"You don't think...?" Raph broke off as what Leo was suggesting fully hit him.

"Yes, I do." Leo replied even as his katanas took out those purple orbs. Once that was taken care of he nimbly jumped back down and went for any joints he could pry his swords into.

"Well isn't this fucking fantastic!" Raph really wasn't to happy about that revelation. I wasn't either. This really wasn't our fight and on our own we really weren't equipped to deal with it.

By now Leo had managed to pry a leg apart, with his sheer stubbornness, and his foe fell heavily to the ground. In that position it wasn't much of an effort for him to force that sword in the chest, where he knew something very important should be. The metal monstrosity instantly grew still, but he didn't have time for a breather as another one came in, this one already shooting. It took every skill he had to keep ahead of those blasts as he flipped away, and kept flipping. Then, to my horror, the one he just downed was _getting back up!_

 _This_ was fucking new...

"Dad? Are they supposed to get back up?!" Ty asked as he finally came running into my view, looking over his shoulder at the robot following him, then he was doing the same kind of flipping maneuvers as he started to get shot at.

"No!" Leo snapped as he skidded to a stop, then dodged in another direction.

"Leo! What do we do here?" Mikey called out.

By that point Leo had made it to me and grabbed my hand, pulling me away from the fight. "Run!"

Ty had made it to my other side and we were all three doing just that. Running as fast as our legs would carry us. Which seemed to me to not really be fast enough. Shots were hitting all around us by now, kicking up more dust and dirt. I was seriously choking again by this point as my lungs struggled for clean air in this shit.

As a matter of fact, I was coughing and choking so hard that I didn't realise that my son and husband had stopped until the yank happened on my arm as I passed Leo, who quickly pulled me back to him. I blinked blurry eyes at what had his undivided attention and barely made out another, much larger form, coming through the dust. My head craned up at this one who was well over twenty feet tall and I started shaking. There was no way in hell we were going to beat it. More larger shadows came up on either side of it cutting off the idea of going around it before it even formed. Again we were staring at arms that came up with weapons raised.

I closed my eyes, fully expecting to get blasted to smithereens. I even winced when I heard them discharge. Then couldn't figure out why in the hell I was still breathing when the explosions hit. Behind me. I opened my eyes and stared stupidly at the robots that had been following us were smoothly blasted into little bitty bits. Again and again the rounds impacted and now I noticed other lights flaring up around me. What in the hell?

"Well, don't just stand there!" A voice I haven't heard in a long while grumped at me. "Get your afts in gear before you end up smeared all over the place!"

I looked up to where it came from, now seeing the blue glow. "Ironhide?"

"No...the fragging grenade fairy. _Move!_ "

"The others..." Leo tried to cut in as he looked back.

"Are getting their afts pulled out of this fragging mess even as you waste time. Get a move on reptile!"

Leo just blinked a second before he pulled me along again. "He hasn't changed over the years." Leo muttered as we began to run on again.

A wide grin found it's way onto my face. "You didn't expect him to, did you?"

He chose not to answer that.

Suddenly a yellow camaro came zooming by, honking his horn as he passed, with a widely grinning Mikey and Ari riding on top and April and Dennis inside. A moment later Jazz came zipping by on the other side with Donnie, Marina, Casey and Amy.

"You fragger!" I heard another voice I remembered. "You scratched my paint!"

"You got in my way Sunny!"

"Don't call me that!"

"Will you two just shut the hell up and get them out of here!" Raph snapped at the terror twins, who came out of the dust a moment later with their own passengers, Cris, Caitlin, Lavi and Dante. Thane and Raph came running out not long after.

"That's all of us!" Raph shouted as he got closer. "Can we get the hell out of here now?"

Hide transformed down and I dove into the offered door that was opened for me even as Ty dove in the other side. Leo, Raph and Thane just jumped into the bed of the large black pickup before Hide hightailed it out of there, his rear end fishtailing in his haste. Once I cleared the damaged area, I noticed more familiar color schemes popping out, even if the frames themselves were a bit different since the last time I saw them. Prowl, Arcee, Chromia, Elita and a few others all surrounded us as the loaded vehicles hauled off with their organic cargo even as more Autobots were finishing the job we couldn't do. Mikey and Ari took the time to slide into Bee's windows.

"Thanks for the save Hide." I told my old friend. "Got a little hairy there for a minute."

"Hide? Ironhide?" Ty asked in wonder. "Is that really you?"

"No. I'm a clone made out of recycled parts."

"Be nice." I told him with a glare at his radio where his voice was coming from. "He hasn't seen you since he was three."

"Little Titian?" This time Hide sounded stunned. "Has that much time really passed?"

"Not so little anymore, is he?"

"Indeed not. It always amazes me how quickly you organics age."

"I remember you..." Ty said, with that wonder still in his voice. "You look a bit different though..."

"I've changed my alt form a time or two since you've seen me last youngling. But I see your family still has the tendency to get into trouble."

Ty gave him a slight smile at that.

"So... Dare I assume that those things are the reason for your visit?"

"Actually...no. They aren't."

My brow shot up on that one. "Then why are you here?"

"For a completely different matter. That this happened was a random coincidence."

"Mind filling me in?"

"It's not my place to do so. We'll take you back home, and you might want to gather your things. It seems your aid is once again needed."

He was only confusing me more, but I just settled back for the ride. I was sure we would get our answers soon enough, but to which questions though?

.

.

"This brings back memories..." I quietly told Leo as we packed. "A bit different from last time though."

"Kids are older for one." He said as he zipped the suitcase closed I had just finished packing. He picked the heavy thing easily up off of the bed even as I grabbed a smaller one sitting next to it. Was all we needed between the both of us really, besides the weapons that were already gathered together in the living area.

Hide's holoform was already waiting for us on the other side. He found out earlier that he couldn't walk through it. I guess he couldn't do interworld hops with it. He reached out and took my bag from me as I stepped through. "All is ready." He informed Leo as we made our way to the door. "Except for that one..." He pointed at Donnie who couldn't pull himself from the screen of his computer.

"Let's go Donnie." Leo told him.

"Just a sec..."

"Now."

He mumbled as he did something to his stuff. Whatever was on his screen switched over to his wrist tech before he got up and followed us out. "What's got your attention so bad?" I asked as we walked.

"Just trying to see if there were anymore of those things out there."

"Highly unlikely." Hide told him. "I'm sure the others have been very thorough."

"No...I meant out there." He pointed skyward. Or ceiling ward since we were still in the lair.

"And?" Leo asked him.

"I can't find anything," Donnie admitted "just like I didn't find anything on the last batch that came in." And from the look on his face, that pissed him off too.

"Maybe your equipment just isn't strong enough?" Like I had any fucking clue if that was the case. I still didn't really understand that shit...

He just shrugged in reply, his face uncertain.

Dennis already had our mobile turtle aquarium running as Leo walked over to it and handed Ty the suitcase. My son disappeared inside with it as Hide passed my bag to Dante. "A much better improvement from your last vehicle" He looked over our battle bus approvingly. "But isn't it a bit large and cumbersome?"

"Family outgrew the old one." Donnie shrugged. "We needed something with the space."

"And you should see all the crap he put in it." Mikey grinned as his head popped out the back door. "Thing is fucking awesome!"

"That it is." I grinned. "But I'm still riding with Hide."

"Still on that crush?" Leo asked me, amusement in his voice.

"Yup, and always will be." I grinned right back at him and he laughed. It felt good to see him actually laugh after the last few days of being so quiet. Maybe he was pulling himself back out of his funk.

Ty came out of the van then with Lavi. "Everything is stowed away." Lavi said as they moved closer.

"Well, I guess it's time to load up." Leo said as he moved towards the van.

Ty and Lavi looked at Hide, both a little nervous I noticed. "Can...we ride with you Hide?" Lavi finally asked.

There was a slight smile on his holoform's face before the doors to his alt form popped open. Didn't take those two long to get the hint. After a pushing, pulling and shoving match on who was going to ride shotgun, which Lavi won by yanking her brother's masktails hard enough to make him fall on his ass, my daughter slipped into the front passenger seat. "I win!"

I sighed and shook my head. Maybe they weren't so grown up after all.


	4. Chapter 4

Even if he only admitted it to himself, Leo was grateful for this turn of events. It gave him something else to think about besides his own inadequacy. But he was also a bit unsettled over what he had seen. Something about those bots seemed different to him. He wasn't so sure that they were just ordinary Con reinforcements that seemed to be the general consent. He really didn't know much about those crazy things to be honest, but he had fought them enough to understand that if you took out the light in their chest, their spark, then they shouldn't get up again. But these did. And that had him worried. It only seemed like they grew still once they had literally been blasted to smithereens.

Seemed like more than his children were outgrowing him. Even the enemies were. Would there be a place left for him in this rapidly changing world? He leaned back into his seat, his eyes staring unseen out the tinted window as Dennis followed Hide and Jazz who led them on.

He didn't pay attention to the landscape that passed them as the drive grew longer. His thoughts were only on what had happened tonight and what could he do to to prepare them for something he didn't even understand.

They drove on and by now most of the others had fallen asleep except Amy who was now driving and Leo who was still looking out the window. It took him awhile to notice that someone wasn't resting peacefully though, and only because Caitlin shook him gently. "What's up?" He asked her as he looked into her tired, worried eyes.

"It's Mikey...he's having a bad dream and I can't wake him."

Leo looked over at his little brother, and sure enough he was tossing and thrashing on the bench he slept on. He got up and moved closer to the restless turtle. "Mikey?" Leo called out to him softly as he shook him.

"I tried that Leo..." Caitlin was very worried now.

Leo narrowed his eyes and shook him harder "Mikey!"

 _Destruction. Agony. Death._

Those fleeting images hit Leo hard as he tried to wake his brother again. Hard enough to cause a sharp pain in his head as he collapsed to the floor with a pain filled hiss, his hands flying to his head.

 _He comes. Prepare yourself._

Mikey shot up from the bench, his eyes wide and a choked off scream trying to force it way out of a throat that wouldn't work. Even as the pain faded from Leo he could feel Mikey trembling as he forced himself to breathe with short, heavy pants.

"L-L-leo?..." Mikey stuttered out as he looked around. "C-cait?...

Leo ignored his own discomfort and looked his brother over. The normally cheerful turtle was scared, very scared. Mikey even stared at his own shaking hands in disbelief. "You alright Mikey?"

"I-I d-don't know, I...guess..." He didn't look like it though. "It was...just a dream... A bad dream."

Leo's eyes narrowed. If it was a dream then why did he see and feel the images when he touched his brother? And why couldn't Vicky see what he had dreamed that night? The one person who should be able to see it...and she saw nothing. And he saw what Mikey had dreamt even though he never had any kind of mental connection with his little brother.

Something was beginning to brew in Leo, concern and suspicion being the foremost thoughts. But still, it wasn't worth worrying Mikey right now over it. So far it had only been the two of them, maybe it was just a coincidence. Another coincidence after a day full of them. Leo found that theory hard to believe but couldn't explain it any other way. "It's over now buddy. Try to get some rest."

Leo knew from the haunted look in those eyes that it would be easier said than done for him, just as it had been for Leo. He did settle back down on the bench though and Caitlin covered the still trembling turtle back up with the blanket that had fallen off of him. Leo wandered back to his spot, his mind now far away from what he was thinking a few moments ago. What in the hell was happening?

.

.

"Turn on the radio."

"You turn on the radio."

"I'm no touching his radio..."

"What makes you think I want to touch it?"

I opened my weary eyes and glared at the twins as they tried to get each other to turn on the radio. "Why don't you just ask him?"

"Hide can you turn on the radio?" Came in stereo.

I just rolled my eyes. "I should have rode with Leo." I mumbled as the black bot complied and the sounds of music filled the cab. At least it was something I could tolerate listening too.

"Oh!" Lavi grinned. "I love this song!" And she began to sing along with it.

Ok...it _was_ something I could tolerate listening to.

Ty started to drum the back of my seat with his fingers. "Hide...how much farther?"

Was that bastard laughing at me? sounded like he was by the amusement in his voice. "Not much."

I just grunted and leaned my head in my hand, since my son was still drumming my seat. Apparently they had slept enough on this trip and were wide awake now...and antsy. It was past time to get them out of here before they drove me nuts. I didn't have their youthful recuperation and was still a bit tired.

The sun was well up by now as I looked out the window, with my seat still shaking, and we were already a couple of states from New York. The morning sun glinted off of Jazz's silver frame as he led us on at a steady speed. It was just those two and the bus for right now, with the other's following sometime behind us since they had to deal with the rest of those bots that had fallen. Took them a bit to sniff them all out apparently but they had managed to find them all and take them out. Now all of us were making our way to the current base.

After about another two hours or so, and the beginnings of a headache, three snaps a Ty to quit banging my seat and countless Lavi singalongs...Jazz finally turned off of the road we had been following. Hide followed him along the forested are we found ourselves in this time.

"You guys got tired of the desert bases?"

"Not really. We still have them, but this one serves our purpose better at the moment."

"Would that be because it was closer to a group of nutty turtles and family?"

"Maybe..."

The forest opened up to a large field, that had an almost just as large base plopped in the middle of it. It wasn't quite as big as the desert bases I had seen, but it came a close second. Seems like we already had a waiting committee as we pulled up.

Will and Epps were there, older now but still there, as was Sally to my delight and Tony. And a few mechanical faces were spotted too. I grinned widely as Hide pulled to a stop and the doors opened. "Ratchet!"

"Well look who's back." He huffed. "The wandering demolition derby..."

"I thought that was you guys?"

" _We_ haven't managed to blow up half a mountain since you left... That is purely your domain."

"Donnie's actually to be precises."

He finally let his gruff exterior drop with a smile as he knelt down. "Good to see you again Vicky." His blue eyes wandered to the twins who came out a bit slower and widened a bit. "Seems like the little ones aren't so little anymore..."

"Still get into trouble though." I told him.

"Well," Ratchet told the stunned twins "don't just stand there like some fraggin pair of idiots gaping at me like that. Come here and say hello!"

"Only if you don't pull out a wrench." Ty told him. "I remember you were fond of wrenches."

Hide cracked up at that as he went bot. "Youngling has a good memory."

By now the van had pulled up and Ari had come out, her eyes wide as she looked around. "It's more than I remember..."

"That's because you were barely walking the last time we saw them." Mikey grinned at her as he walked up. "I hope you stocked up on your pizza! Cuz I plan on putting a dent in the supply."

Ratchet glared at him. "I plan to put a dent in your head if you don't behave. I remember you very well. Those pranks between you and the terror twins were about to drive my processors to short out."

Will grinned at Mikey as he came closer. "Got plenty of it stocked up bud. Just because we knew you were coming." He brought a hand out to shake Mikey's, who ignored it and gave him a big bearhug instead. Will winced a little. "Ribs. Still need those..."

"Turn him loose Mikey." Leo said gently as he walked up. "I'd be a shame if he gets his ribs broke within five minutes of us getting here. The injuries usually come later."

Mikey laughed as he put Will down, then moved on to Epps. Will ruefully rubbed his side as he and Tony walked up, this time getting a normal handshake from Leo. "Good to see you again Leo." Tony smiled with a slap on the shell along with the handshake.

"Likewise." The smile on Leo's face was genuine for the medic. The first one of these troops who put aside his fear of the unknown to help Mikey in that battlefield. Leo would always hold him dear just for that act, which cascaded into something bigger. With all of the humans there fully accepting them, just because they did something good. Those few weeks the guys, and the children, could walk openly for the first time among humans, and they weren't shunned or feared. That was something that really hasn't happened since.

Even as I thought about that, I noticed troops gathering. They were staying well back, no doubt under orders to do so until things could be explained and settle down, and once again Leo grew a bit nervous as he took in the new faces he saw there. He knew none of them, but the bots hadn't even tried to hide our arrival.

Will caught that look. "Nothing has changed Leo. They may have not met you personally, but each one of them know what you and your brothers did. Most of them have been chomping at the bit to finally meet you. You still have the right to walk openly here."

Leo just nodded as he looked over them. "They all look so young..."

Epps snorted. "Tell me about it...I feel like a damn kindergarten teacher... And this isn't helping." He ruefully added as he caught sight of the now grown, and fully armed, children. "Seems like we ain't the only ones who got some new recruits."

"Explains the bigger vehicle." Sally smiled, passing hugs around. "I love that mask color." She told Ari. "Pink is my favorite."

"Mine too!" The blonde turtle grinned.

"Hey hey hey!" A new voice boomed. "Look who finally showed up!" The red bot that came walking over also wore a welcoming grin on his face.

"Blaster!" The children all hooped as they ran towards him. Even Ari seemed to remember him, which is surprising considering how young she was the last time we were here.

The one that came up behind him had my full attention though. He was still easily the tallest and most intimidating one here, but the face that looked down at us was warm, and welcoming. Red and blue still dominated his color scheme and I was pretty sure he was still rolling around as a semi. This was Optimus Prime after all...anything else wouldn't seem right.


	5. Chapter 5

"You actually kept that?" I asked, stunned at what I was looking at behind the base in an open spot.

"Didnta seem righ' ta leave it behin'. It goes where we go." Jazz calmly told me as he led us to our rooms we would be using in our stay here. Once again tucked away on the back side of the base in case of surprise visitors from the top brass. Even though Will had worked his way into that selection of brass right now, they still had to do inspections and what not I suppose. That part of military life would never change. And the bots made sure to keep my turtles away from it as much as possible.

But still...the playground? They kept the _playground_? For some reason I felt my eyes water at that. And a few tears slipped out when I noticed it was still in perfect condition. Not a speck of rust was found on it and it gleamed in the bright sunshine as I wiped the tears away. The care they must have given it...

Leo was also a bit misty eyed as he looked at it, then at the now grown children it had been made for. For a moment I felt sadness come from him before he quickly buried it and pulled his eyes away from the kids as they were talking amongst themselves.

Jazz led us into a corridor large enough to fly a dang helicopter through, even holding the massive door open for us, though we could have used the human sized door built in. I quickly noticed that the hallway was lined with just as big of doors on the inside. I raised a brow up at our escort. "We wouldn't be by any chance bunking in the bot side of the base would we?"

"Wha' clued ya in?" Was the the reply with a grin. "Had a few rooms ta spare, an' n'one eva comes on this side. They know betta."

"Trying to keep us all to yourself huh?"

"Tha' too." He wasn't even phased by admitting it and I laughed.

He stopped by one of the doors and opened it, again using the big one. "This one is for you an' tha missus." He told Leo. "Gonna have tha boys in tha room next ta ya and the girls across tha hall. Ol' red and firecracker gonna be on their otha side and the other two couples will be flankin' tha girls."

Leo gave him an amused look. "And by doing so you kept the children protectively in between all of us."

"Thought that migh' be tha best way." Again Jazz didn't even look embarrassed by being caught. He just gave Leo a grin. "Take some time ta get settled in. Then we'll have tha talk I know has been buggin' ya."

Gratefully I slipped into our private domain and Jazz closed the door behind us with a boom. My eyes grew about three times their size once I took in everything here. Room was friggin huge... It was obviously a renovated Bot room. But where a berth would normally be was a large, king size actually, bed. Area rugs were scattered all over the smooth floor and a soft blue comforter set decorated that large bed, along with crisp white sheets. They had even went all out and decorated. Asian paintings hung all over the place and there was even a place set up for Leo to meditate, complete with candles, along with another area set up as a sitting area. Even had a tv mounted on the wall this time around. It was uniquely suited for this particular turtle. Me personally I didn't give a rat's ass what the room had in it as long as the bed was comfortable. But this even took my breath away. Was that a fucking indoor _fountain_ in the damn corner?

Leo and I stopped a few steps in, looking around the room with wide eyes before looking at each other. "Why do I get the feeling they have been planning on this for awhile?" He asked me.

"Because they either have or spent a damn fortune on overnight decorating services..." I mumbled.

We walked over to the dressers near the bed and gently, still filled with awe, put our suitcases down. I was so touched by what I saw that my hand reached out on its own and sought Leo's, and he took it. "It feels more like a fancy hotel room than a dang barracks..."

We both just stood there, actually kinda scared to touch anything. Then I just had to go look at the bathroom. I drug my husband along with me as I marched over to it and flipped the light on, and my jaw hit the floor. I was fully expecting a shower a sink and a toilet. Not the tub big enough to hold me _and_ Leo and about three other people. Not the waterfall type shower, double sinks and long mirror that covered almost that whole wall. I was scared to look at the toilet, might be those fancy ones that squirt water up your ass when you are done taking a shit... Again area rugs and paintings softened the harshness of the metal and tiles found in here. Big, fluffy, blue and white bath towels were folded neatly on shelves beside both shower and tub. And there was a large bath welcome basket sitting on the tub rim, waiting to be opened.

"Holy mother of...something..."

Leo just quietly nodded his agreement to that.

I was seriously eyeing the tub by now, and I know I had that dreamy look in my eyes as I started to wander over towards it, and the waiting basket where I could clearly see the bottle of bubble bath.

"Really? Now? You are going to take a bath now?"

"Jazz said we have some time...I intend to spend it in there, and if I have time I'm taking a nap."

"What about our stuff that still needs to be put away?" Amusement was in his voice now.

"You can do that. I'm pretty sure you are more than capable of handling it. I, on the other hand, have had a very nerve wracking trip with a pair of wound up twins. I'm tired and I need a nice, hot, bubble bath..." I was already undressing before I even got to the tub, leaving a trail of clothes behind me as I made my way over to it. Then I redid my hair from a braid to a messy bun on the top of my head.

He just shook his head and left the bathroom and I immersed myself for the next forty-five minutes or so in sudsland. By that point I was getting my nap in too, because my head had leaned back against the rim and my eyes had drifted shut. What woke me was the gentle pulling of a brush through my hair. Leo had obviously found my brush and was putting it to use on my long hair after he undid the bun, letting the hair drape over the rim of the tub. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I was just trying to brush the dirt out from last night since I know you more than likely didn't feel like washing it."

"I don't actually. Too tired to deal with it right now."

He just smiled a little at that as he silently ran the brush through my hair again. "Lot of dirt in there." He finally commented, his fingers carefully working out a large clump that got stuck. "Don't think you are going to avoid it for to much longer."

I absently blew my bangs out of my face. "It's just going to have to do for now. I ain't messing with it."

He chuckled. "You already made that point very clear."

I closed my eyes again. The warm water and his hands working in my hair luring me back to sleep I had almost drifted off again when he finished and redid my hair so it wouldn't get wet. Then to my surprise...he stripped and joined me in the tub. I opened an eye again as he settled himself in next to me. "You're going to smell all girly." I teased him as he shifted around to get comfortable.

"I really don't care." He pulled me next to him, wrapping his arm around my shoulders as I leaned against him. "It's more than big enough for the both of us and it seems a shame to waste the opportunity."

My brow shot up. "Opportunity for what?" I asked him mischievously.

His eye ridge shot up in reply. "To spend some relaxing quiet time with you. And since this is the place you chose to relax, I guess I have to get wet. It's not always about the other thing you know." He reached for some leftover suds that hadn't bubbled down yet and scooped some onto his finger, and put them on my nose.

"Hey..." I blew them back off with another upward puff from my mouth, and they premptly flew into my eye. "Well that didn't work..."

His laugh was quiet and gentle when he wiped it back out again. I stuck my tongue out at him as I shifted a bit so I could lay ontop of him and snuggle against him. I sighed happily as his other arm wrapped around me and I laid my head on his shoulder. "This is nice... I wish we had a tub back home this big."

"Where on earth would you put it?"

"I'm sure we could have Donnie blow up something back home to make room for one."

His body shook with his amused snort. "Not sure there would be anything left to call home if he did that."

"Oh well... A girl can dream I suppose."

"You can always dream."

We passed about another half hour or so just quietly talking, or not even doing that. Long quiet moments snuck in there a bit as we just took comfort in each other's presence like we usually did. Didn't really need words in moments like this.

Eventually the water grew a bit on the chilly side, which pretty much forced us out of the tub. Leo stepped out first, wrapping a towel around him before he held one open for me as I stepped out. "Thank you kind sir." I wrapped the big fluffy white towel around me.

"Your welcome, love of my life."

I gave him a quick peck on the lips and he followed me out of the bathroom and into the main room. The suitcase was already unpacked and he even pulled out something comfortable to wear. I dried off and got dressed in the t-shirt and sweatpants he chose. Gratefully actually. Was having a lazy sweats moment after that bath. But then, I always have a lazy sweats moment.

Overall I felt much better once I was dressed again and our timing was perfect. Once Leo had redressed himself and slipped his weapons back on, that were never really far from his reach, the knock on the door told us that someone had come a calling.

I walked over to answer it as Leo was adjusting the strap of his harness and found Tony waiting outside. "Guys get settled in alright?" There was was an amused look on his face as he asked that.

"More than alright." I said dreamily as I opened the door wider to let him come in, and he took me up on that unspoken offer and entered the room. "And I have a sneaky suspicion you guys planned it that way."

"Would we do that?" His eyes were wide with feigned innocence.

"Yes." Leo said flatly giving him a level look. "You would." Then he smiled a bit. "But I do have to admit...the room is welcoming."

"Good. General consent was that you deserve more than sloppy barracks rooms this time around."

Leo's eyeridge shot up at that. "Which brings me to the obvious question."

"And the reason I'm here. It's time for that update the bots have been sidestepping on telling you. Just was waiting for the others to get back, and they just did."

"Well, then let's go find out what we have to do to earn these generous rooms."


	6. Chapter 6

The wet hair and dreamy faces on my female family members quickly clued me in on the fact that I wasn't the only one who had enjoyed the wonderful bathing facilities. Just like it told me that I was pretty much the one who was not really worried about wet hair at the moment. Well...my crap was longer than theirs. Do you know how long it takes thick, waist length hair to dry sometimes?

We had all gathered in a large conference room, again both suited for bots and us puny fleshies. There were a few bots scattered around the room as well as Will, Epps, Sally and Tony. Take off about seventeen years and you had a scenario that looked a lot like the last time we helped the bots out.

All of the parents felt at ease in the environment, the teens looked a bit uncomfortable right before their first war meeting. Dennis and Amy were just as relaxed as we were, probably because they remembered the bots better overall and felt more comfortable. Casey was just as relaxed as Raph, minus the feet on the table. April, who had decided to come along this time and bunked with my daughters and nieces while Casey bunked with the boys, just sat and quietly watched.

Ty was fidgeting nervously next to me as he sat, playing with the hilt of a kunai. "What's wrong?"

"I dunno Mom. I just feel like I'm not sure what we can add to this. Should we even be here? This seems like so much more than just a simple run out the door to go stop Hun... I feel out of place."

"Titian," Leo spoke up from right behind us where he was leaning against the wall "if it's one thing we all have learned is to never expect what might come out of these meetings. You never know where the solution to any given problem may come from. Even from the inexperienced."

"All right." Raph said as he leaned back in his chair and plopped his feet on the table and folding his hands behind his head. "You wanna fill us in now on why we are all here?"

"Got trouble brewing." Blaster grinned at him.

"No shit? Really? And here I thought we were only here to pick daisies... What's got your circuits in a bunch this time?"

"Do they even bunch?" Mikey asked curiously. "And is it like getting a wedgie?"

"Do you mind?" Leo said, already exasperated.

"Sorry..." Mikey mumbled.

"Well, long story short...," Blaster started "we are stuck."

" _That_ tells us a lot." Raph rolled his eyes.

"Stuck with what?" Leo asked.

Instead of answering the lights dimmed in the room and a large viewscreen came down from the ceiling. Man they had some cool ass gadgets... They didn't have this crap the last time we worked with them.

It lit up with a whole buncha red dots scattered all over the place on a world map.

"What's that supposed to be?" Raph grumbled "A page out of Mikey's connect the dots book?"

"Hey... I like my connect the dots book..."

A glare from Leo shut them both up again.

"Is it always like this?" Ty whispered to me.

"Usually." I sighed back and he chuckled a little.

"The dots represent Con activity in the last earth year or so." Blaster was saying.

"Seems like they were busy." Donnie noted.

"They always are." Then the map changed and the dots were more concentrated in Asia. "This has been the last two months or so of their recorded activity."

Raph snorted. "What? They suddenly get a hunkering for chinese food?"

Dante had been watching the map intently, then narrowed his eyes. "Can you switch back to the other map?"

Blaster looked at him, seeming a little stunned that one of the teens had spoken up before looking at Leo, who nodded.

"Sure thing."

The old map came up and Dante got out of his chair and walked closer to it, carefully looking it over. His eyes wandered over it a long while, taking in every detail meticulously. "I'm not sure," he said finally "but doesn't it seem that even though they are spread out all over the globe, they still look concentrated in some areas?" He pointed to a spot in Europe. "Like London, Berlin and Paris." Then he moved to the American side. "Kansas City, Boston, Chicago," Again he moved, to the Asian section this time "Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, Taipei just to name a few."

Blaster blinked, well the robot equivalent to it, then looked at Jazz. "How come you didn't notice that?"

"Ah waz busy tryin' tah keep Hide from blowin' shit up." Came the quick amused retort.

Hide snorted.

"I believe we have become complacent." Prime answered. "More concerned with the amount of sightings that where they were localised failed to gain our attention."

"So," Will said as he crossed his arms "I guess the next question is... What are they looking for?"

"That depends." Ari said. "What do those cities have in common?"

"Besides tourist traps?" Epps asked.

This time it was Ari who was looking thoughtful. Then her eyes widened. "Wouldn't it have to be Asian related since they are all concentrated now in Asia?"

Donnie quickly pulled out his own gadgets and did his thing for a few minutes, then looked up. "Museums. They all have decent displays of Asian artifacts in them."

"It...makes sense." Leo said after he thought it over. "But there are some museums that they seem to not have gone near."

"Like New York, Washington D.C. and a few others I could name."

"Wouldn't they at least try and gather all of the information then?" Ty broke in hesitantly. "I mean, it would be the smart thing to do. Research everything you can in everyplace you can before you go out into the field to look for it."

Now more than one Bot was looking a little hesitant. "Tha' might be cuz' somethin' kept 'em away." Jazz said softly.

"Like what?" Raph asked, still leaning back in his chair with his feet on the table. "You?"

"Not quite." Blaster said. Then changed the image again on the screen. "Honestly, this is the reason we called you in. Jazz found this picture about four months ago. Outside of a museum in San Francisco during a Con sighting in the area. We tried to go investigate, but couldn't. Something wouldn't let us get close enough to do so. Thought this was something more in your line of expertise anyway considering the unusual form of it. It's the only picture we have."

By then half the turtles in the room didn't hear him. Raph had toppled backwards out of his chair onto the floor, Donnie had stood half up out of his, Mikey's green face paled and Leo pushed himself off of the wall, his eyes wide and hands shaking as he walked closer to the screen. The emotional turmoil I felt from him was way more intense than what he let show on the outside.

My eyes had also grown very wide at what I saw. It was fuzzy and more than a little out of focus because of the glow that seemed to come from it, but the elder members of my family immediately knew what it was. Or should I say who.

Leo's hand reached out, seeming to want to touch the picture as he tried to get himself under control. "Father..."

 _"Father!?"_ Jazz, Hide and Blaster asked together.

Raph was still trying to pick himself up off of the floor as Leo stopped by the picture, his eyes still wide as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing.

My own voice was trembling as I tried to explain to my mechanical friends. "His name is Splinter." Came out in a hoarse whisper. "He was created the same way they were, but was already into adulthood while they were still infants. Splinter raised them, trained them. So yes...he is their Father."

"But he also died over twenty years ago." Cris added in her own shaky voice.

"A ghost?" Hide scoffed. "What's next? Cybertronian zombies?"

"Do not discount the possibility old friend." Prime said as he also looked thoughtfully at the picture, and at the turtles who couldn't seem to pull themselves together. "Even as old and wise we are, there are still things that we even can not explain."

Mikey had by now stumbled over to Leo. "Why...why didn't he let us know? Why didn't he come see us?" Mikey's voice was close to tears as he stood there. "He hasn't come to see us in so long Leo. I don't even feel him in the lair anymore."

"I don't know little brother... I don't...know..."

"Come again?" Jazz said. Apparently they were all confused. Which was understandable, we've never really discussed this with them.

"It's like he never really left." Marina, the most composed out of us but not by much, told him. "They could still feel him every so often, even seen him a few times. But he's been quiet for a very long time now."

The bots just looked at each other like we were crazy. "Oooookay then..." Blaster mumbled.

"Is...that really grandfather?" Ty asked as he looked at the picture, wonder in his eyes.

"It seems to be Ty." I replied.

The room was quite after that for a long while as the guys slowly got their composure back.

Finally, with a deep shaky breath, Leo turned away from the screen. "Have there been other...similar issues with you trying to investigate Con sightings?"

"Ah few tahms." Jazz admitted.

"Where was the closest?"

Jazz pointed to a spot south of our current position. "Sahprizin'ly, this small 'ne here."

Donnie was looking at them curiously. "When you say you can't go there...what exactly do you mean?"

"It's like hitting a brick wall about half a mile outside of the given town." Hide rumbled. "But nothing can detect what is causing it."

"Probably why we never caught on to the museum connection." Blaster mused, we were more concerned about the phenomena and the location itself rather than what's at that location."

"Interesting, and it just affects the bots?"

"No." Sally replied, with a slight frown. "I tried to go in too...and couldn't."

"But normal civilians can come and go as they please." Will added. "It's friggin' creepy."

Ari leaned back into her chair "Maybe...it's because whatever it is, is trying to protect something. And since it seems to know the Cons are involved...it wants to protect the city as well as whatever it's hiding."

Leo and Donnie's eyes met. "It would be something he'd do Leo." Donnie said quietly. "No matter how important, he would never let innocents get hurt. He's spent years beating that into our heads."

"Are you sure it is even him?"

"No...but how can we be if he won't show himself to us?"

"Then there is only one way to be sure."

"We are going on a roadtrip, aren't we?" Raph asked as Mikey looked on with sad eyes.

"You got a better idea?" Leo asked him back. "He's protecting something, I know he is. And it might not hurt to find out what it is."

"I'm going with you." April suddenly spoke up where she and Casey had been quietly sitting.

"You don't have to do that." Leo told her.

"I know I don't, but if you want a thorough search of the place, I think I may know how to do it without breaking the law and risk getting caught trying to break into the section where they store the stuff not on display."

"And how is that?"

She gave him a smile. "What good would my position of news editor be if I didn't pursue stories that sometimes focus on interesting things? I don't know about you, but _I_ know a few folks who would like some kind of report on Asian artifacts." Then she looked at the humans in my family. "And it wouldn't hurt to have a news crew handy."

Leo's eyeridge shot up at her impish look. "Never underestimate the power of the press." She added with a grin.

"Fine..." Leo gave in with a sigh.


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the discussion focused on these new bots that had come calling in the city, and Leo found that he couldn't really focus on it. Not after that... No matter how hard he tried, his usually calm mind just couldn't focus. He caught the main jist of the conversation, information that Bee, Sides and others had passed along after they got rid of them but it wasn't important enough for him to keep his thoughts grounded. His eyes kept wandering to that viewscreen, even though the picture wasn't on it anymore.

It hadn't gone unnoticed either. Prime had been watching him, and his brothers, as they tried to process this. And it was with an undertone of compassion and sympathy when he called an end to the meeting, because he could clearly see Leo was in no shape to concentrate on it anyway and wasn't really doing any good.

Now he was looking out the window of his room. His arms crossed as he watched the younger turtles out enjoying the quiet, sunny afternoon...out in the open and among humans. They quickly drew in the quite curious crowd, those who had never seen them before and a few oldtimers that had been fresh recruits themselves the first time around. Again Leo felt a stab inside of him as he was seeing how much time actually passed, how much the kids have grown and how much he was rapidly becoming an obsolete figure in this world.

From here he had a perfect view of the playground the bots had made, and for some reason held onto. And surprisingly, it was once again in use. Ty and Lavi was sitting in the tower, talking. Ari was hanging upside down by her knees nearby, joining in their conversation as her long hair reached for the ground. Thane and Dante were just walking up by this point. But it amused Leo a little that they chose this place to hang out. And something seemed to be missing from this picture too. It was with another pang that he realised what it was. There were no Bot bodyguards hovering nearby, they weren't needed this time around. It was with a small, sad, sigh that escaped his lips when reality hit him again.

The door opened behind him, then closed again, but he didn't need to turn to know who was there. Vicky walked quietly across the room until she stood next to him. "They always did like that thing." She commented softly as she watched them with a smile.

"I remember that." He replied with a smile of his own. "Could never get them away from it."

"I think I'm going to take a shower now that that's over with. I guess I better get washing this mop out of the way."

He just nodded. She gave him a quiet look for a moment before turning to the bathroom. Not much longer after that he felt her content as she stepped into the warm water. And her delight at the shower. He smiled a little...maybe he would ask Donnie to see if he could upgrade their bathroom at home. It was long overdue anyway and if it would make her happy...

Leo turned away from the window then and followed her to the bathroom. The window represented change he couldn't figure out how to deal with, he needed something right now that never would.

He stopped a few steps in when his eyes spotted her through the clear shower door. Her head was tilted back under the flow of water, rinsing the soap out of her hair. The suds ran down her body, hugging her curves before they got lost in the swirl of water going down the drain. On the same impulse he felt earlier, he quickly discarded his own gear and quietly stepped in before pulling her close to him.

Vicky looked a little shocked that he invaded her bathing domain twice in one day, but she didn't mind as she returned his hug. "What's the matter Leo? This much attention is unusual...even from you."

"I just want to be close to you is all."

She chuckled as she laid her head on his chest. "Well, you can't get much closer than this."

His arms tightened around her as he rested his cheek on the top of her head. She felt warm against him, her skin heated from the water. And soft, she was always so soft. After a few minutes she raised her head back up. "Feel like letting me go long enough so I can finish my hair?"

Regretfully he lowered his arms and she reached for the conditioner. He did help her work it in her long hair though. Leo loved her hair, actually enjoyed running his fingers through it. He knew most of the time it was a hassle and she had thought about cutting it back numerous times, but she never did anything more than the occasional trim. Just because he loved it so much. So it was only natural that he help her care for it if she kept it that long for him. Natural to him anyway.

His eyes wandered over her again as her head dipped back under the water. She still bore those scars, they were very faint now, pale with age. He remembered a time when they were still a very vivid red color. Even she was changing. It wasn't big changes, but with everything that had been running through his mind lately, they seemed to scream out at him.

It was the soft touch of her hand on his cheek that snapped him out of his wandering thoughts. Her eyes seemed so much bigger and intense now that all of her hair was swept back from her face from the water. Her eyes met his. "Are you sure you're ok? You've been quiet and brooding the last few days already and now this..."

He knew it was pointless to lie to her, and he wouldn't do it anyway. He had tried to hide certain feelings from her once and it had caused even more problems. He vowed never to do it again. That, and he knew she was one of the very few who truly understood him besides his brothers. Maybe even better than they did. "I just feel like I can't keep up." He admitted quietly. "Everything seems to be moving quicker than I can adjust to it. Cons that get back up after you take them out, Father wandering around out there and saying nothing to us and...my own son proved to me that he doesn't need me any more... Where is my place in all of this Vicky? Where do I fit in? Is it my time to just sit back in the lair and watch from afar, like Father did?"

"Leo, you know just as well as I do that you could never do that. He was well suited for that role, you aren't. You have to be out there, just because it would eat you up if you didn't do it."

"But I do it so I can watch over my family. I'm doubting I can do that much longer."

"That may be true Leo. It's a harsh reality. But even if you aren't physically capable of helping them, you still have the wisdom of experience. There is always a way to help, you just have to adjust to find it."

"It's...not the same..." He whispered as he placed his hand over hers. "I can't fight off the urge to protect them, and they don't need it anymore. I promised them I'll always be there if they need me only to find that I'm rapidly not being needed. After doing this for so long I don't know how to step back, I can't step back..."

"And it's bothering you that neither option seems to be the right one."

"Something like that." He sighed. "I find myself missing the old days dear one. When the answers were so much easier to find. Now I don't know what is expected of me."

Her eyes softened a little as she looked at him. "Growing is hard...isn't it?"

"At this stage, yes, it is. There just doesn't seem to be a clear answer for me."

"I wish I knew what to tell you Leo, I really do." She brought her hand down and wrapped her arms around him again before she placed her head on his chest. "I don't like seeing you like this."

He didn't answer her, just held her against him as his cheek once again found itself on top of her head. He wished he knew what to tell himself. But for now Leo took comfort in the one thing he knew would never change, the love they had for each other. As it usually did, just being near her made him feel better. Not a lot, but some. Only time would give him the other answers he was looking for.

.

.

Ty was leaning against the wall of the play tower, his arms crossed as he thoughtfully looked out over the base.

"I remember our parents swinging us on this thing." Lavi said with a small smile. "It's funny how some stuff is blurry, but others you remember very clearly."

Ari was still hanging by her knees. Ty was wondering how much longer she'd be able to keep that up before she passed out from all the blood going to her head. "Well, this is the blurry ones for me. I wish I could remember more, this thing is actually kinda fun."

"You are so easily amused." Thane rolled his eyes at his cousin.

Dante was looking at the group of soldiers standing by the corner, that was looking back at them. "I wish they'd quit staring at us. It's making me nervous."

Ari finally flipped off of the bar, hitting the ground lightly. "Well, go ask them to stop silly."

"I'd rather not..." Dante mumbled, a bit embarrassed.

Ari stood up straight as she brushed off her hands, then to Dante's horror turned to the group of soldiers. "My cousin would like it if you quit staring at us!" She yelled across the distance. Dante groaned and slapped his palm against his forehead.

Ty looked at his younger cousin with amusement at his embarrassment. "You know she does crap like that..."

Lavi snickered next to him, which just added to the misery for the yellow masked turtle. Ty was betting that Dante was ready to crawl into a hole when the group actually walked over after an uncomfortable pause.

"Sorry...," One of them said when they got closer. He was tall with black hair, lightly muscled and had a wide grin under friendly brown eyes. He seemed to be around Ty's age, maybe a bit older. "We weren't trying to be rude."

Another, a tall, redhead female, smiled. "It's just that we were trying to get over the awe factor. We've heard the stories..." She had the typical green eyes that go with her color, and Ty wasn't quite sure what to make of them. He'd never seen a color quite like that before. Not even his Aunt Cait had eyes quite like hers.

"I think you may be confusing us with our parents." Ty told her. "We weren't really old enough to do much at the time."

She grinned back at him. "Those weren't the stories we are talking about, though those are cool too."

The teens just exchange quick, confused looks as the soldiers chuckled. "We heard that you guys managed to work you way into the sparks of some grumpy ass Bots." The first one spoke again. "Mainly Hide, Sunstreaker...and Ratchet of all bots. We just can't understand it." He reached out a hand. "Name's Kyle."

"Titian." Ty took it and gave it a firm shake. "But I usually go by Ty."

Kyle winced a little. "Nice firm shake...supposed to mean you got confidence. I'm taking it to mean you can break fingers."

Ty gave him a smile. He decided he liked this guy.

"Cindy." Came the woman's hand next. Ty made sure he schooled back his grip a bit this time. She still looked at her hand and wiggled her fingers a bit though. "They all still seem to work. Titian? That's an unusual name. Don't think I've heard that before."

Ty just shrugged. "It's a very old name. My father had a thing about naming my sister and I after Renaissance artists. But since he and my uncles got all the good names, he had to dig in the not as well known pile."

"I think it suits you. I like it."

"Lavinia." Lavi reached out her hand next. "Or Lavi. Depends on if I'm in trouble or not on which one get used."

"Oh...now I'm jealous..." Cindy smiled. "That name is sooo pretty."

The rest of the group made their introductions, but Ty found himself looking at this young woman with fire for hair the most. For some reason he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He did know that they all seemed to get along, easily passing jokes back and forth. Even Dante began to loosen up a bit after awhile.

Thane's rumbling stomach decided to break up the chat session though. "I'm getting hungry."

"You're always hungry." Ari told him. "I don't think you've ever been full."

"He's a big turtle." Kyle grinned. "I bet it takes a lot of food to keep him going."

"You think he's big," Ari grinned "you should see his dad close up."

"He the red masked one?"

Ari nodded.

"I think I'll hold off on that one. Was told he's got a short fuse."

Lavi laughed. "It's so short I don't think it's even long enough to qualify as one."

"You guys could join us in the mess hall." Kyle offered. "Food sucks, but at least you'll have good company."

"I think we would like that." Lavi smiled at him, and he smiled back at her. Ty was staring at Cindy again and didn't even notice.

Kyle held out his arm to her and Lavi took it with a laugh. Ty followed his example to Cindy, and his heart skipped a beat when she placed her hand on his arm. Yes sirree...this was turning out to be a pretty decent trip so far.


	8. Chapter 8

It took another day to gather the things April would need for her cover, but Lavi didn't mind the delay really. Her new friends easily kept the younger turtles occupied in that time while they waited. When they weren't working anyway. She was really enjoying herself to be honest. It wasn't often they had a chance to make friends and now she rapidly was making quite a few of them.

The bots were just the same as she remembered, from what she could remember anyway. She actually had a grin on her face earlier when she was exploring, had found Ratchet's med-bay...only because Sideswipe came hauling ass out of it, laughing, while a wrench was rapidly following him. That she definitely remembered.

And of course Hide. She remembered Hide. And Bumblebee. He drove by as she now sat outside in a little park area, honking his horn at her in passing. "Hey Bee! I'm still waiting for my ride!"

He honked back, but didn't stop to give her one. Probably because he was busy helping with gathering the things they would need.

She settled back in the bench she was sitting on, watching the bustling of the base around her. She was alone at the moment, a rare occasion really considering she usually had one of her family members nearby. But her brother and cousins were all off doing their own thing, drawn out by the allure of being able to wander freely for once, and the parents were all busy prepping for the mission tomorrow.

"What? You ditched the rest of your nutty family?" Kyle asked her with a smile as he drew closer.

"I think we all kind of ditched each other." She smiled back. "Not often we can go do our own thing. It's usually best to stick together, mainly because most of the times when we go out it's on missions." She looked back out at the now setting sun. "It's kinda nice to be able to wander around like this."

"Oh...I know the feeling, trust me." He grinned back. "Grew up with three brothers and two sisters. I can completely understand your frustration. Quiet time was a luxury." He sat down on the bench next to her. "Enjoying your stay so far?"

"Yes." She smiled at the sight of Hide yelling at the other set of twins, then he gave one of them, Skids, a good kick that launched the smaller bot quite a distance away. "This place is very entertaining."

"Not the word I'd choose. Nuts comes closer."

She laughed. "I'm used to nuts. You should see all of us when we get together."

He gave her a wry grin. "Not sure if I'm brave enough." He told her. "Your dad, and the others, have quite the reputation around here. We shoot at Cons mostly, they charge 'em head on with hand combat weapons. And more than often than not...win. That's pretty badass."

"Jealous?"

"Hell yeah! I wish I could do that."

She laughed again. "I didn't do so well with my first encounter with them." She told him, turning her head to look at him. "My weapons aren't really specialized for beating up on giant robots."

"You can use them though, right?"

"Of course. You don't grow up in my family and not learn how to fight."

He looked at her, and another smile found it's way onto his face. "Show me."

"What?"

He got up from the bench and held out his hand to her to help her up. "Show me what you can do."

"I...don't know..." Suddenly she was embarrassed. Showing off really wasn't her style. That fit more into Ari's or Thane's area of expertise.

"Come on...what's the harm in it?"

One of her brows came up in amusement. "Depends on how many bruises you want."

"Hey now!" He laughed. "We get trained in hand to hand combat too. I'm not exactly a pushover."

"Alright then." She crossed her arms, a wide grin now on her face. "Hit me. You get one free shot."

"And if I manage to tag you?" He faced off with her.

"You get the bragging rights and can tell all your friends." She grinned back at him. "That's usually a good man ego boost."

He grinned wryly back. "Not so sure me hitting a female would be something I'd brag about."

"Have to do it first. Hit me."

"Why do I have a feeling I should have kept my mouth shut..." He laughed, then his arm shot out unexpectedly, straight for her face.

Her arms came up and caught that wrist, inches before it hit her, then she turned a little and easily flipped him up, over, and onto the grass by the bench. He blinked a few times as he laid there. She leaned over him, her braid hanging over her shoulder as she looked down at him. "Good enough for you?"

"Ok...compared to you I am a pushover." He accepted her hand as she helped him back up, his eyes meeting hers. "You've got some pretty eyes, you know that? Never seen any quite like them."

Lavi's face was heating up as she quickly let his hand go. "Thank you...I guess." She was now suddenly unsure of what to do. "They tend to freak a lot of folks out."

"No...I meant it. They are very pretty."

She smiled at him, and he gave her an answering smile as he still stared in her unusual two toned eyes.

"Are you two about done here?"

Lavi and Kyle both jumped at the sound of the newcomer and spun to see her father standing there, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed a bit before he walked closer.

Suddenly Kyle seemed very nervous. This was his first close up look at any of the elder turtles, and Leonardo was obviously making an impression on him. Kyle was tall, but still not quite as tall as the blue masked turtle and Lavi's father still outmuscled him. By a lot. Add in the effects of the katanas strapped to his back and the fact that he carried numerous hidden weapons as well, he could seem a bit scary if you didn't know him. And Kyle didn't know him.

Blue eyes watched the man with a level gaze as Father stopped by Lavi's side. "And who might you be? And why is my daughter throwing you around like a rag doll?"

"Kyle Richards. Honored to meet you sir." He offered a hand, that was slightly shaking Lavi noticed with amusement. Father looked at that offered hand with that same level gaze before he brought his eyes back up. "And she's throwing me around because I was dumb enough to prod her into doing it."

"I see." Father said slowly before he took the offered hand. Then his blue eyes narrowed a bit again as he shook it. Firmly. Kyle winced and tried to hold back a squeal as that handshake happened. "Leonardo. Lavinia's father." He let his grip go and Kyle almost snatched his hand back. Lavi glared at her parent, who didn't even notice as he studied the man in front of him. "I'm going to assume you learned that that might not be the best thing for your health if you keep that up."

Kyle looked like if he wasn't sure if he should rub his ass where she dropped him or baby the hand Father shook. "Um...yeah...I figured that out real quick."

"Good. Then further demonstrations shouldn't be needed...right?" Lavi noted that Father didn't mention who was going to be doing the demonstrating if it was needed.

"No sir. Curiosity is all settled now. She can fight good. Trained her well."

"Yes...I did. You would do well to remember that fact."

Kyle winced again at the double threat.

Father didn't seem to notice it as he turned his attention to Lavi. "Your mother wants to know if you felt like eating with us tonight, since she hasn't seen you all day."

"I suppose I should."

"I suppose you should too. Pleasure meeting you Kyle."

She rolled her eyes as he turned away, then looked at Kyle with sympathy. "Sorry. He gets like that sometimes. Catch you later?"

He looked wryly back at her. "Sure...after I go get my hand checked out..."

Lavi then turned and jogged to catch up with her Father. "You didn't have to do that."

"Do what? I just introduced myself is all."

Lavi just shook her head and sighed. Then she smiled. He said her eyes were pretty...

.

.

I was waiting for them when they came through the door, meeting my husband with my hands on my hips and my eyes glaring. "Really?"

His look quickly turned to one of feigned innocence. "What?"

"You know very well what!" I snapped. Lavi had by now made her way to the bathroom to wash up while Ty was sitting in the sitting area, an amused grin plastered all over his face. He caught on through his sister just as I caught on through Leo on what had happened out there. "Will you just let the poor girl make some friends!"

"She can make all the friends she wants."

I kept that glare up, fully telling him he wasn't fooling me one bit. Then he gave me a big cheesy ass grin and I laughed. "You are a bully."

"I am not. I'm just a concerned father that doesn't want my daughter throwing everyone around."

Ty cracked up laughing. Obviously seeing through the excuse just as I did. We both knew him better. I rubbed my forehead...this was going to be one long stay.

.

.

We got up early the next morning, before the sun even, and loaded up. You know I was thrilled about that. Not.

We had some discussion on what vehicle to take. We could have driven our van, but that was one more vehicle the Bots would have to cover if they got ambushed, and even though Donnie put a lot of work in it...it couldn't transform and defend itself. Now there's a thought... A big van that was remote controlled stomping down the streets in some kind of bot form, weapons and all...

 _'Nevermind.'_ Leo came across from where he was sitting in Hide's driver's seat. _'We have enough problems with him blowing crap up. Don't need to add to it.'_

I cracked up.

The drive was long, and boring. Which again didn't settle well with the twins in the back seat. Hide turned the radio on this time before even being asked and soon the cab was filled with Lavi's singing voice. She actually had a pleasant voice to listen to. Ty's enthusiastic drumming on seats however still didn't go over well. I smirked at Leo who was getting a backfull of it this time as he began pounding away.

Leo just gave me a level stare before he slowly turned around and looked at his son. "If you don't knock that off, I'll have Hide pull over somewhere, then I'll drag you out of the truck, hogtie you and toss you in the bed. You can then spend the rest of the trip trying to find away to drum my seat from back there."

Ty's eyes grew wide a bit, his hands stopped in mid drum as he met his father's no nonsense gaze. Lavi was in her seat, quietly laughing her ass off as Ty's hands came down and Leo turned back to look at me. "See how easy that was?"

"Bite me."

"Maybe later."

By this point the whole truck was shaking...because Hide was laughing.


	9. Chapter 9

It was mid afternoon when we finally made it as far as the Bots could go last time...with Ty still in the cab and not in the bed of the truck. Jazz had pulled into a secluded area and we all got out and gathered as the various Bots rolled to a stop.

Jazz transformed up and looked around. "This is as far we can go." To prove his point he reached out and punched...and his hand bounced right back at him. Something unseen was indeed blocking the way.

"I guess that answers that question." Donnie said as he scanned, his eyes baffled as he looked up. "But I can't pick up a dang thing on what it is..."

Leo walked up to the same spot, his eyes thoughtful as he looked a moment. Then he sighed and reached his arm out, and it easily passed through. Then he took it a step further and actually walked through.

"Now we know _you_ can pass through it." Epps muttered. "But what about the ones we are sending to the museum?"

My husband didn't answer that, but he did turn towards me. "See if you can come here dear one."

So I did. I walked over, half expecting to run into something, and was surprised when I didn't and I was able to grab Leo's outreached hand. Slowly, one by one, the rest of our family, including April and Casey, were able to get through. Epps still couldn't. "What in the hell?"

"We are obviously not invited along for this one." Will said amused.

We were just as confused, but really couldn't waste the time gaping over it. "We'll go with them as far as we can, then meet you back here once we are done." Leo told the Bots, who could only nod in acceptance. Epps just grumbled under his breath.

"Why am I getting a creepy feeling over all of this." Raph muttered as we moved in the underbrush of the woods we had to push through.

"I'm not." Mikey said. "It just doesn't feel like bad vibes."

"I didn't say bad Mikey." Raph clarified. "I said creepy."

"I thought bad and creepy usually amount to the same thing with you guys?" Casey, April's pretend cameraman, chuckled.

Raph shook his head, serious as he ignored Casey's playful tone. "Not this time."

"I think what's so creepy about it is the fact we can't explain what's going on." Donnie added. "This is a first for us. We may never knew exactly _who's_ behind certain events, but we always know _what_ caused it. This can't be explained even if we may have a clue on who it may be."

"Unknowns are always a nervous thing to deal with." Leo commented quietly as he held some branches out of the way for April and Lavi."

"This one even more so because of who may be involved." Caitlin added as Mikey steadied her as she landed from jumping a ditch.

"So what's the plan to deal with it?" Thane asked.

Leo sighed. "I'm not so sure there is one right now. Not until we find out what is going on."

"Then let's step to it." Raph rumbled. "Running our mouths ain't getting' us there any faster."

.

.

Leo and the other turtles waited at the edge of the woods as April and the more normal looking members of his family went on into town. He had chosen the closest possible position to the museum, which was actually in his sight right now. It was a small town, and it was a small museum. One of those places run by some country towns and owned and cared for by a few local folks. A place that was run really more out of the love of the artifacts there instead of drawing in large crowds. So it was a bit understandable on why it was set on the edge of town like this, next to the main road that ran into town. So it could catch the attention of passing travelers and hope they would stop and come in and enjoy the collection that was more than likely filled with the town's history, along with a few other items. He still made sure they stayed well out of sight though.

The others settled down to wait, more at ease out here than any other mission really. Somehow they all knew it would be safe. They never really let their guard down completely. Fully aware that just because Cons couldn't come here didn't mean that some locals wouldn't wander by. But they did relax a little as they waited. Donnie even sat leaning against a tree, pulling up various information and looking it over concerning the recent turn of events.

Ty was also leaning against a tree, standing up this time though, as he waited near Leo. "How long should we wait?" He asked his father as he also looked out at the building his mother and half siblings disappeared into.

"I'm assuming no longer than closing time. Then if they didn't find what we came for, we wait until dark and go in again."

"Father...that is breaking and entering. I can understand going after crime bosses locations...but a museum?"

"I don't like it either Ty. I really don't. And I'm going to avoid that if I can. But if there is something there, we need to know what it is and figure out how it fits into all of this. Sometimes you may have to break a law in order to save the lawmakers."

"We've actually had to do that once or twice." Raph spoke up. "It's never your Father's first choice, but he won't hesitate if it needs to be done."

Mikey grinned then. "It's not like Donnie's explosions are actually legal either. Ain't that right Donnie?" He turned to his still sitting brother who didn't answer. "Donnie?"

Leo turned at the worried tone in his brother's voice and looked at Donnie. His gear was still on and the display up, but his eyes were wide and unseeing behind his glasses, his face was pale and his body was shaking.

Dante moved closer to him, and gave him a light shake. "Dad? You ok?"

The only response was Donnie trembling even more as his mouth opened and a strangled scream tried to come out. By that point Leo and his brothers were next to him, Mikey carefully pushing Donnie's son out of the way. "Donnie!" Raph snapped as the teens gathered worriedly around them.

"Leo...what's wrong with him?" Mikey asked, worry in his eyes.

Leo didn't know for certain, but he had a suspicion. Mikey had been just as hard to wake, and from what Vicky said...so had Leo himself. But Donnie was already awake...

"I know..." Raph said quietly. "because it happened to me back at the lair. I thought it was just me."

Leo looked at him in shock. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't think anything of it." He shrugged. "Thought it was just from stress or something."

Donnie's trembling grew more violent, and that worried Leo a little as he began to thrash more. He was going to hurt himself. Leo reached out a hand, knowing it wouldn't do any good, and tried to wake Donnie. At the same time Raph and Mikey reached out to try and restrain him.

This time when his hand touched, he didn't just feel what his brother was feeling, he was draw in. He immediately was reminded of his own dream as he felt the sense of dread. _Agony. Death. Despair._

He wasn't alone this time either. He could feel Donnie's terrified conscious near. Even as Leo reached out for him, he felt two others doing the same. Trying to reach the frightened brother, they bumped into each other and held on. They reached Donnie and brought him into their fold, trying to shield him from what they all had experienced already. Together now they faced this dark feeling, and it didn't seem so ominous anymore.

Then the visions started again. Cities burning, countless lives lost. Waters raging, fires burning, earth trembling and winds howling. As they watched, even this changed. A shadow seemed to hover over the destruction, taming it. Under it's touch the waters stilled, the fires burned low, the earth stilled and the winds died.

 _He comes. Prepare yourselves. Find the way._

They were all snapped back awake with enough force to send the three hovering brothers backwards and Donnie's back slammed into the tree. "Dad!" Rang out in five voices in the small clearing as the teens scrambled to their respective father.

Leo sat up, holding his aching head as Ty and Lavi made it to his side, then helped him get into a sitting position. "What happened?" Lavi asked as Leo struggled to get his bearings.

"I'm not sure turtle dove." Came the befuddled answer.

"That was...creepy." Mikey mumbled as he also tried to get up.

"How do you think _we_ feel?" Ari mumbled. "You scared the piss out of us. First we couldn't snap you four out of it, then you just go flying around like paper in the wind. Creepy doesn't even begin to describe it."

"Not sure what other word I can give you pumpkin." Mikey told her seriously.

Leo wasn't sure what word to use either.

.

.

We split up into groups, each one waiting a few minutes before going in. Amy and Dennis went first, followed by Cris and Marina. Caitlin and I went in with April and Casey as part of the "News crew" last. Each group would go off in a different section of the museum and search the best we could for something we didn't even know we were looking for. Talk about unclear mission objectives...

April quickly charmed the proprietor of this small place with a story about "Doing a news series about the hidden treasures in small towns". The balding, stuffy dressed man was quickly overwhelmed by the idea of his museum being on the news, and I actually felt a little bad that we really had no intention of actually airing the story.

After giving us the grand tour, and nothing really grabbing our attention, April asked if she could look at the stuff that wasn't currently on display. He looked a bit disappointed because his local treasures weren't good enough for the news, but did lead us farther in and into a back room.

"We've also collected a few Asian artifacts. We really don't display them much, preferring to concentrate on our local history..."

I tuned him out as I began walking around, my eyes searching. I couldn't find anything and I looked over at Cait to see if she was having any better luck, and had to bite my tongue to keep from blurting something out and alerting the fussy guy that we weren't quite what we seemed to be here.

Caitlin's eyes had a glazed, distant look to them, and she was slowly walking to the back of the room. I caught April's eyes and she flicked her eyes toward the blonde woman, letting me know that she noticed it too and would keep the man in front of her busy.

By the time I reached Caitlin, she had stopped in front of a very old, so old it was fading and some of it could barely bee seen, painting. Then she stood there. Not moving. I waved my hand in front of her face and she didn't even blink. "What the fuck..."

Then I looked closer at what she was staring at. It wasn't anything really earth shattering. Though I thought it a bit odd. Not that I was a big art expert. I assumed it was drawn in feudal Japan, early feudal by the looks of it. A village was depicted on it, on a hill top with wavy lines scribbled all over it to depict wind. Ok, so we had a windy picture. No big deal here. Wind blew all the time so why was this-

I stopped in mid thought as my eyes grew wide. I took me a bit to spot it, but there was no doubt now. Some of the wind lines were so old, they had actually faded to a light orange color. I thought they had faded to that color, until I could clearly make out the outlines of a mask in them. A ninja mask. And since that style of mask really wasn't a part of the normal fashion there, again I assumed, I got chills when I looked at it. Then my heart skipped a beat when under it the faint outlines of a set of 'chucks could be made out. "What in the hell?"

I almost jumped when Caitlin's hand stiffly came out in front of her, palm up. I did jump when the painting seemed to blow out of the frame and into the air towards her hand, it glowed a light orange glow and it settled down over her palm. I was shaking badly when Caitlin blinked her eyes and they cleared. "Why am I standing here looking at the wall?"

My finger was wobbling hard enough to confuse her before she realised I was trying to aim for her hand. She looked down confused and her eyes widened at the painting now laying on it.

"I think we found it." I told her in a choked whisper.


	10. Chapter 10

We snuck the painting out of there by the simple act of Caitlin folding it up and tucking it inside her shirt. Yes I know that's stealing, I had every intention of reimbursing the guy for it later...or bully Will into doing it. I suppose anyone of us could have carried it, but it just seemed right for her to do it.

April finished up her fake interview, making sure to keep the guy away from where Caitlin and I had been, then we quickly retreated. quietly signaling the others when we left that it was time to go. It didn't take long for us all to meet up back outside.

"You actually found something?" Cris asked as she drew closer with Marina.

I still really didn't trust myself to speak yet, so I just nodded.

"What's wrong with you two?" Marina had caught sight of Caitlin's pale face.

"Don't really feel like talking about it right now." I mumbled. "Let's just back before he comes out the door screaming at us."

Cris raised a brow "Oooooo-kaaaay..." She said as we began to walk towards the woodline.

I think we invented some new kind of speed walk trying to get away from that place, half scared that the dude was going to come out and yell "Thief!" before we could make our getaway. I breathed a lot easier when we disappeared into the woods.

And got all worried again when I came face to face with nine distraught looking turtles.

"Is everyone suddenly going crazy? Or is it just me?" Casey mumbled when we were met with confused and slightly frightened faces.

"Starting to wonder that myself" Dennis mumbled back.

Amy smacked them both on the back of the head "Knock it off. It's not their fault weird shit seems to be the norm the last week or so."

Leo didn't pay them any attention as he walked over to join us. "What did you find?"

Caitlin reached inside her shirt and carefully pulls out the painting, her hands shook a bit as she unfolded it.

"That's it?" Raph asked incredulously. "We come here to hijack a piece of old paper with scribbles on it?"

Leo's eyes narrowed as he looked at it, then widened as he turned to stare at Mikey.

"What?" Came the obvious question as Mikey stared back at him.

Leo didn't answer, but he did point out what I had noticed earlier. All kinds of eyes were popping out of eye sockets at that point.

"This just keeps getting more and more confusing." Dante said quietly. None of us really disagreed with him on that.

.

.

It was well past midnight when they rolled back into base, and the trip was an uncomfortable one for Ty. He, Lavi and Mother were worried about Father and Father himself had been quiet most of the trip. Hide probably enjoyed the quiet though.

It was with relief that he slipped out of Hide, taking a few moments to stretch his sore muscles. They had all been a bit worried that they would have to find another way home since the Bots couldn't approach before, but it seemed that once the painting had been placed in Aunt Cait's hand, the barrier dropped. Another thing that brought up the creepy factor when they saw the bots roll up just as they were going to go rejoin them.

And he still wasn't over that moment when his Father and Uncles had that incident. He just didn't know what to think.

"Rough trip?" Ty turned to see Cindy walking up to him. His mood immediately brightened.

"Not really, just a strange one. Why are you still up?"

She shrugged. "Got off of guard duty a bit ago and heard you guys were coming back in. Thought I'd stay up and wait for you."

"You...didn't have to do that..."

"I know." She tilted her head a little. "But you look like you could use the company. Care to take a little walk with me?"

"Now? It's like two in the morning."

"So?" She flashed a smile at him and he suddenly didn't feel so tired.

"Sure, why not." Again he offered his arm to her and she took it. "Any particular place you want to go?"

"Not really, we can just take a leisurely stroll."

As they walked off, the teasing whistles began behind him from his cousins. Since Ty had five fingers like his mother he was able to give the appropriate response over his shoulder with his free hand. Which of course set them all into fits of laughter.

He didn't notice the quiet watcher, his Father, as he watched them walk slowly off, talking easily and sharing a laugh or two. Then, with a quiet sigh that Ty didn't hear, Leo looked away.

Ty himself was now fully occupied with the woman who walked next to him, very aware of how close she was. If she shifted just a bit more, she'd run into him. He had the strange double feeling of wanting that to happen and not wanting it to happen at the same time.

The normally confident twenty year old also found himself unsure what to say to her once the trip inquiries had been answered. "It's a nice night." He lamely said, for the lack of anything better.

"It is." She agreed with another smile. "You seem a bit jittery though."

His face heated up...because she was right. He was jittery. "Just nervous I guess."

She reached behind her head with her other hand and undid her bun she normally wore in uniform. Her hair was long and curly, and her face looked so much prettier with those curls framing it. His throat suddenly went dry as she shook her hair out. "That feels sooo much better. I love my job, but those buns give me headaches sometimes. Jittery about what happened today?"

"That too." He said after clearing his throat.

She looked up at him, her eyes twinkling in amusement. "Why Titian...I wouldn't be the one making you nervous, would I?

"Honestly...yes." He admitted. "I'm...not very good at this."

"At what?"

"Talking to girls." He shrugged.

"All girls, or just me?"

"All of them, but I'm with you right now. I don't have the experience for the simple reason that I've never had a chance to meet one. I really don't know how to make small talk without feeling self conscious about it. Would you believe you are the first girl, outside of my family and close friends, that I've actually been able to have a normal conversation with?"

She tilted her head a little. "Most young men wouldn't admit that. It violates some kind of man rule or something."

"I wasn't raised like most young men. I'm not going to lie to try and impress anyone. Not even you."

They walked in silence a few steps. "That alone impresses me." Cindy quietly broke the silence. "So tell me, did you plan to spend the rest of your life a bachelor?"

"I never thought about it." He sighed. "But I guess I kind of think I might. It's not like I can walk out and just go on dates and meet someone. I am a large half turtle, that really doesn't go over well with most people."

"That's because most of them can't see past the outer shell, no pun intended. I tend to look at things a bit different since my stay here with the Bots. I don't see a large turtle. I see a kind, considerate person, even if he is a bit awkward. But I find it adorable."

Ty's face started heating up again. "I haven't been called adorable since I was four."

She laughed a little and Ty smiled at the sound. Even her laugh was pretty. "Ok, would you prefer attractive?"

 _That_ word sent a whole range of body parts into malfunction mode. What little moisture he found in his throat dried right back up again as his stomach started doing flips. If his face got much warmer it was going to burst into flames. And someone turned the faucet on to his hands because his palms were seriously starting to sweat.

"I...uh...yeah...that one will work."

Suddenly she stopped and turned him to face her. She smiled slightly as she met his eyes. "Ok, Titian. I find you attractive."

Now his mouth was gaping like a fish out of water as he tried to figure out what to say to that.

She just smiled patiently. "I know I just threw you for a loop. No need to respond to it right now. It's just, you're so honest with me and I wanted to be honest with you." She stood up on her toes and kissed his cheek. "You've had a long day, go get some sleep and I'll see you tomorrow."

Then she slipped out of his arm and walked back to her barracks, leaving Ty standing there with his hand on the cheek she just kissed and wonder in his eyes.

.

.

When I came out of the bathroom, showered and in pajamas, Leo was looking out the window again. His eyes not really seeing anything. I had by now shaken off a lot of my own befuddlement, not all of it, but most. "You keep up with this moody brooding and you are going to turn into Raph."

He smiled a little as he turned to me. "I don't think that's even possible. Takes a lot of moody and brooding to get to his level."

"You sure are working on it hard enough though."

"I know, I just have a lot on my mind right now."

"And worrying about it is going to help how?"

He sighed, then smiled at me again as his hand came up to brush the hair behind my ear. "This from the one who used to worry herself into fits."

"That doesn't mean I want you picking up my bad habits."

"Oh? So you can worry, but I'm no allowed too?"

"Damn right."

"Hypocrite."

"Damn right about that too."

"You're impossible." He laughed.

"I know." It was my turn to smile as I remembered something. "Any word on Caitlin?" Once we had gotten back Mikey had promptly dragged her over to go see Ratchet once the story came out on how we actually found the painting. He was dragging Donnie in his other hand, demanding that he and Ratchet were going to figure out what was wrong with Mikey's Kit Kat and fix it. He wasn't going to let his wife get possessed by "zombie demons"...whatever those were...

Leo seemed to forget what he was brooding over as he shook his head with amusement while laughing. "She's fine. Donnie came by while you were in the shower and told me that after numerous scans, from both of them, that they couldn't find anything wrong with her. He just freaked out is all."

"That manage to calm Mikey down?"

He snorted. "No. He still thinks there is an evil brain worm in there or something." His face took on a rueful expression. "Donnie got so fed up with him, he literally knocked Mikey out. With his staff. Now he's the one in med-bay recovering so Caitlin can get some sleep."

I was laughing before he even finished telling me that.

"Since Donnie forced him into that state, he's going to stay up and watch him, and look over the painting to see if he can find out what's so special about it."

"And in the meantime?"

"I've asked Jazz to put together any information they have on other sites they can't reach. He should have a list together of the places and what's there later this afternoon, after we all get some sleep. We'll discuss the next step from there."

"Well then, why are you not doing what you just suggested? Bed is over there."

"I was waiting for you dear one. I sleep better when you are near."

He was so sweet... He took my hand and led me to the bed where we finally settled down, his arms around me and my head on his shoulder. It took him a little bit to settle down and fall asleep, but he finally did. I just sighed as i watched him for a bit. He was so worried and confused. About a lot of things right now really. Somehow I knew that this time around I was going to be the firm support for him while he tried to puzzle this all out. It was strange to look at it that way, just because he's the one who usually is the firm foundation. I'm sure he would eventually, but I'd try to make it easier for him as best I could.


	11. Chapter 11

Turns out Donnie finished with his task before Jazz did. He looked baffled when we met up with him shortly after lunch. "I can't pinpoint anything on it." He told us. "I can't tell you how old it is, who drew it, where it even came from. And I have no idea why in the hell it was floating around on it's own. By all accounts it's just an ordinary painting in that aspect."

Leo rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Everything we do just seems to bring more questions than answers."

"I don't know what to tell you Leo."

"It's fine." Leo told him. "It's not your fault things are so cryptic right now."

"There ya are." Jazz said as he came walking up. "Got tha' list ya asked for Leo." He knelt down and handed over a datapad.

Leo took it and Donnie looked over his shoulder as he began to browse through it. "Thee more locations." Leo muttered.

"And spread out all over the country too by the way it looks." Donnie added.

I walked around and Leo tilted it so I could see the screen. "Ok...any idea what is there? I mean...where are we going? More museums?"

Jazz reached out and tapped something that brought up another screen. "Foun' museums at two of 'em. But tha third, don' 'ave 'ne."

"It does have a Japanese garden though." Donnie noted. "Still Asian related."

"So what do we do?" I asked. "Do we split up and go hunt them down?"

"It would be quicker to do it that way."

"I'm not so sure if we should do it that way." Leo said doubtfully. "Yes, it allows us to get to them faster, but it also divides us up and weakens our defenses if we get ambushed."

"So, what's more important right now? Speed or safety?"

Suddenly I felt a rush of anger from him and I backed up a bit in shock. "I don't know!" Leo flared suddenly. "I don't know what to do with any of this! I don't know _why_ we got stuck with this! I don't know _why_ papers are flying around! I don't know _why_ we are all having visions! I don't know or understand any of it and I don't know what to do! Or what is expected of me!" He slammed the datapad into Donnie's chest and pushed his way out of our huddle, his anger and frustration trailing behind him.

" _That_ escalated quickly." Donnie muttered.

I just watched as he walked away. And I was beginning to wonder if his own personal doubts were starting cloud his judgement. I didn't know what we would do if that was the case.

.

.

Leo sat on the rooftop, where he been all afternoon and well into the evening. He sat and he meditated. Trying to clear everything that was swirling in his mind. Wanting to bring some sense to the confusion and doubts. Searching for the path in a forest of uncertainty. It wasn't working.

He finally just gave up but still sat there, looking up into the sky as the last rays of sunlight stained the sky a fiery orange. It was a beautiful sunset and he looked at the different colors coming together to create such a natural wonder. One that a lot of them seemed to take for granted. Even him.

"Father?"

Leo turned his head and noticed the twins were now up here, walking towards him. Both of them with slightly concerned looks in their eyes. "We waited for you for training." Lavi told him. "Thought that maybe you had been too busy, but then you missed supper. You hardly ever miss eating with Mother."

"The combination of the two had us thinking that maybe we should go looking for you."

Leo looked at his children, his eyes still wanting to see the little faces that had smiled up at him. Wanting to see the little hands that excitedly handed him drawings and finger paintings. He missed the hugs, the snuggles and sloppy wet kisses. He missed the time when he could still keep the promise to always protect them.

More and more they seemed to not need him anymore. He had noticed both of them were starting to form attachments to others here, along with the other teens. They were learning how to interact with humans besides his family. Were finding acceptance here, and that was one more thing they didn't need from him anymore. They were learning to trust outside of their small circle. They were outgrowing him, had already outgrown him in some ways.

All of that ran in his mind as he looked into their now adult faces. "I've decided to not train you anymore."

Both of them looked incredulous at that. He had spent almost every day teaching them, sparring with them. Helping them learn the lessons that would keep them alive in this harsh world. Over and over he had stressed how important regular training was, and now he seemed to just give up on it? "Why?" Lavi asked.

"Because I have nothing left to teach you." He turned his head away again. "You've both mastered all of your lessons, all you need to do now is keep them sharp. It's time you took over your own sparring sessions and it's time I stepped back."

"But, Dad..." Ty started.

"I have nothing left to say on the matter." Leo firmly told him. A firmness he really wasn't feeling. His heart was aching on how far they have come. As much as he was tying to convince them they were than capable on their own, he still wanted to spend those moments with them. Just because it had been some of the few times he could get them all to himself as they grew and pursued other interests and their own missions. He wanted to hold onto that, but also felt that it would hold them back.

It was quiet for a few minutes before Leo realised that they had left, and that hit him hard that he had essentially driven them away. Driven them even farther from him.

The sounds of laughter reached him and he stood up and walked over to the corner of the rooftop. Below him were the twins, and they weren't alone. He watched as they interacted with Kyle and Cindy, not sure what to think about these humans. These humans who were rapidly growing close to his children. A pair that reminded Leo again of just how much his twins had grown, and probably faced a certain loneliness he himself had felt at one time.

Quietly he knelt up there, his eyes locked on the laughing and smiling faces below him. A part of him wanted to go down there and yank his children back and fold them under his wing to hide them from the world, another wanted them to enjoy this experience and yet a third was hesitant of letting them get close to strangers but didn't want to stand in the way either. They were old enough to make their own choices. So Leo did nothing besides watch as they laughed and flirted.

"I'm a bit surprised you are letting that go on." Raph said from behind him. Leo turned to look to see him standing there, arms crossed. "Considering how protective you've been over all of them over the years."

"It's not my place anymore Raph." Leo replied as he looked after his daughter as she shared a smile with Kyle.

He snorted. "Bullshit." He uncrossed his arms and walked closer. "It will always be your place, nothing will ever change that."

"Something already has."

"No, it hasn't. You are just too confused to see it." Raph stopped next to him and looked out at the twins himself, his eyes following Ty and Cindy. "She's actually kinda pretty." He noted, then winced. "Don't tell Cris I said that."

"Raph, you don't actually expect me to sit here and tell them how to live their life."

"Did I say that? Did those words come out of my mouth you blockhead?" He rolled his eyes. "No, they didn't. But running off and hiding from their life isn't going to do shit but make you gloomy." Raph gave him a level look then. "Look, I know what's running through your mind. Your son whooped the tar out of you. Big fucking deal. It's what we've been spending their lifetime teaching them and it was bound to happen sooner or later. That doesn't mean you run from it and go hide in a damn hole from them."

"It's not just that Raph." Leo sighed.

"Then enlighten me, oh mighty worrisome wonderer."

"Will you stop that!" Leo snapped.

"Not until you give me a good reason too. You've been moody and gloomy for days now, and until you tell me why, I'm going to assume it's because you feel like a washup because your son mopped the floor with you."

Leo looked at him. "Maybe I am a washup." He muttered.

"Oh come on." Came a new voice, Donnie's. "Leo, just because Ty finally reached a level that we have all been training him to reach, doesn't mean you are a washup. It means you did a good job as a trainer."

"Yeah, bro." Mikey added. "Why are you so upset just because something happened that we all knew was coming sooner or later? He's _supposed_ to figure out how to beat you, just like we all know how to beat each other. You should be proud that he finally got you."

Raph had narrowed his eyes in thought as he watched Leo struggle with this. "Or is it the fact that you can't separate the trainer from the father?"

Donnie also looked thoughtful as he heard Raph. "That does seem to be the most likely explanation."

"The trainer pushed Ty to that point, but the father can't accept it." Mikey spoke up.

Leo looked at his brothers, swallowing hard before turning away from them, once again looking at the twins. "No, the father can't accept it." Leo finally admitted to them. "I can't accept the fact that they are growing up to the point where they don't need me."

The troubled turtle felt one of his brothers move closer, stopping next to him. It was Mikey. "Leo, they will always need you. But as a father, not as a trainer. It's time you started separating the two." His little brother wrapped an arm around Leo's shoulders. "Just think of all the opportunities you are missing here! Lavi's first crush... I could have soooo much fun with that... But you are missing out on it because you are up here moping."

"Oh lord..." Raph mumbled from behind them.

"And I'm thinking once that confusion is cleared, a few other things might become clearer to you too." Donnie moved in on his other side. "You are so afraid of what's going on around you, because you feel it mirrors they way you are looking at them now. You feel so helpless and confused about everything else, because you feel like you are failing them in some way."

"I made them a promise Donnie." Leo told him. "I made them a promise to always be there for them if they need me. How can I keep that promise when they don't..."

"By changing the definition of the word 'need'." Came the calm reply. "When you made that promise, it was when your skills still outmatched theirs. But there are other life's lessons that need to be learned Leo. That is one of them." The purple masked turtle waved his hands towards the couples below.

"They are both in uncharted waters here." Raph looked himself down at the twins. "Neither one of them have the experience in this. If you shut them out, the way you did earlier, who is going to help them? You are the parent that can relate the most to this Leo, not Vicky. She never had to wonder if humans would go running way screaming at the sight of her. She never had to face the worries of finding someone who would accept you for what you look like. She isn't a turtle. Vicky had the chance to date, and learn from her experiences. None of us ever did any of that really."

"They are going to have doubts, worries and concerns of their own." Donnie looked from the twins back to Leo. "That is where they are going to need you brother."

"Retire the trainer, but let the Father fully shine through." Mikey nudged his arm. "And nothing says you still can't engage in a friendly sparring match with them every once in awhile. Hell, to be honest, it's what we do with each other isn't it? When was the last time we actually 'trained'. Every time we get together it's more of a 'let's see who can outwit who' thing."

"I...never looked at it that way..." Leo admitted quietly.

"We noticed." Mikey grinned at him.

"So?" Donnie smiled. "You going to sit up here and stare at them all night? Or are you going to enjoy your right as a Father to make a certain young man uncomfortable?"

Raph chuckled quietly. "And embarrass a young turtle in front of his girl."

This time Leo did smile a little. "You guys are so wrong."

"Never denied it." Mikey winked at him.

"Should at least make the effort to get to know those two better." Donnie said. "Just incase it does go somewhere."

Leo sighed a little as he watched the group below him. "I suppose I should. And apologize to them for being so abrupt earlier."

"Everything changes Leo." Raph told him. "You just have to flow with it as it does. You've done that well with everything else, this isn't so much different."

"Just go with the flow dude." Mikey gave him a push toward the edge of the building. "Go say hi."

Leo smiled another small smile, feeling better about the whole ordeal, and flipped off of the building. It would take some time to adjust his thinking, but he would at least take the first steps. It was a start. A start to helping him find his lost way out of this confusing forest.


	12. Chapter 12

"He actually let you do that?" Cindy laughed. "Oh my god!"

Lavi grinned. "Oh yeah. That I remember very well."

Kyle chuckled. "I just can't see the old Hatchet doing something like that..."

Ty was grinning right along with his sister. "Well, he did. He let us climb all over him. We hard the lights flashing, windshield wipers going, blared the siren a time or two, honked the horn. You name it and we turned it on."

Cindy and Kyle were laughing so hard now they had tears in their eyes.

Cindy wiped hers away, still laughing. "I'll never look at the grumpy ol' bot the same after that... I'll always have an image of him in my head of kids crawling all over his alt form now..."

"Think we might get a wrench to the head for even telling you that." Ty's grin grew wider.

"I'm thinking so too." They all grew quiet when Father dropped down from the rooftop next to them, landing in an easy crouch. "Not so sure he wants that to get spread around."

Kyle's eyes grew wide as Father straightened back up. His eyes looking at the elder turtle, them up at the distance he just so casually dropped down from. Then his face paled as he looked at Ty and Lavi. "How did he just hop down from a two story building like that?"

Ty shrugged. "He hopped off. We do it all the time actually."

Kyle's face paled even more as Father walked closer and he took a step back.

Ty could have sworn he heard someone laughing from the rooftop.

Cindy was looking at him just as wide eyed, and Ty realised with a start this was her first time being so close to the big turtle. Father just calmly stopped in between Ty and his sister as he looked the humans over. Then his eyes narrowed a bit as he looked at Kyle.

Lavi just sighed and rolled her eyes.

Ty tried to bite his own chuckles back and decided to distract his Father. "Dad, this is Cindy. Cindy, this is my Father, Leonardo."

A small smile found it's way onto Father's face as he held out his hand. Hers trembled a little as she took it. "My pleasure to meet you young lady. Heard a lot about you. Seems my son is quite smitten with you, he's got that moonstruck look in his eyes everytime he talks about you."

"Dad!" Just when he thought that he was getting control over his blushing, his face heated up all over again.

Cindy let out a light laugh, Kyle was trying to make himself as small as possible.

This time there was no mistaking the laughter coming from the rooftop. From more than one voice. Ty groaned and dropped his head into his palm. Father's smile just seemed to grow just a tiny bit.

"And nice to see you again Kyle. I trust you haven't had anymore meetings with the ground?" An eyeridge came up at that question.

"No sir. I remembered what you said. I've been behaving."

"Good. I'd hate to see you get hurt."

Kyle winced, and Uncle Mikey was by now very obvious about being up there. His laughter clearly came down to them by this point.

"Da-ad!" Lavi protested.

"What?"

"Do you have to do that?"

"I'm not doing anything." His eyes went wide with fake innocence. "I'm just having a pleasant conversation with your crushes."

Cindy blushed a bit as Kyle looked uncomfortable all of a sudden, eyeing Father warily. Ty and Lavi both groaned and rolled their eyes. Uncle Mikey wasn't the only one laughing out loud anymore.

"Did you come for a reason?" Lavi asked him as she crossed her arms. "Or did you just want to embarrass us?"

"Am I embarrassing you?" His eyes light up with amusement. So much different that earlier. In spite of himself, Ty smiled a bit.

"No...not at all..." Lavi rolled her eyes.

Father chuckled a little before his face grew serious. "Actually...I wanted to apologize for earlier."

Lavi's brow shot up as the smile died from Ty's face, knowing it wasn't appropriate right now.

"I was upset," Father continued "and I took it out on you two when I shouldn't have."

"Does that mean you are still going to train us?" Ty asked, kinda hoping the answer would be yes. He didn't want that to end, not yet.

"No." Father said quietly as his eyes wandered from one twin to the other. "I meant that." Then another small smile found it's way onto his face, a hesitant one this time. "But I was wondering if you two felt like sparring."

"Now?"

Father shrugged. "If you want too. I'm not ready to completely let go yet."

Ty and Lavi looked at each other, and grinned. "Two on one?" Lavi asked him.

Her answer was the swords coming out, and Kyle backing up a few steps. "Odds sound about right to me." Father smiled.

"Wait..." Cindy's eyes grew wide "you are going to actually fight him, with your actual weapons? No practice sticks or something?"

Ty winked at her. "Not the first time. Mother picked up a saying when she was in the military. 'Train as you fight.' It's something our fathers have always lived by even before they met her." His own katanas came out then. "But you might want to step back a bit."

She did so, her eyes still wide. Kyle took a few more steps back too. Ty didn't even notice as they squared off with their Father.

"This isn't a lesson." Father told them. "I'm not going to judge or critique your form. That part is done."

"What's the objective then?" Lavi asked him.

"Take me down." Was the simple answer. Then he came in, his katanas leading.

A wide grin found it's way onto Ty's face. In all honestly, this really wasn't so much different that training. It seemed to him that the only difference was, was the fact that Father was doing exactly what he told them, saying nothing. Besides the occasional friendly taunt. It was with a bit of shock that he realised that what was happening here was much the same thing that he had watched play out between the elder turtles numerous times. Father wasn't fighting as a master training his students, he was treating his children as equals.

Cindy and Kyle watched, breathless, as they fought. Not really sure what to think of the display of speed and precision that was taking place in front of them. "Turtles shouldn't move that fast..." Kyle mumbled in awe as he watched.

"Normal turtles wouldn't." Donnie said from right behind them and they both jumped about three feet in the air and spun around. And were suddenly face to face with the other three turtles. "I could take a few moments to explain while that goes on." His head nodded towards the now openly grinning turtles as they danced and weaved around each other.

Cindy turned her head back in time to see Leonardo nail Titian with a solid kick. She winced a little as he rolled backwards, then he stopped the roll, perfectly balanced on his feet and went back in again even as the elder turtle tried to hold his daughter back. "Can we watch while we listen?" She asked, unable to take her eyes away from the spectacle she was seeing."

"It is hypnotic to watch." Kyle admitted. Then his breath caught as Lavi landed a solid hit on her Father. "Ouch...that looked like that hurt..."

Raphael chuckled. "She may not be as big as her father and brother, but she does pack a punch."

"Hardly seems possible." Kyle said, his voice full of wonder.

Donatello chuckled this time. "Don't let the pretty turtle face fool you, she's got more under that shell than it seems." Then he thoughtfully watched his brother and the twins as he began to explain. "The substance that caused us all to turn into what we are now just didn't turn us into walking talking turtles. It changed a lot of other things as well."

"Like what?" Cindy asked.

"For one, turtles really don't have ears like humans do. They can hear, don't get me wrong, but they have no open ear like you do. Theirs is covered by skin, which makes hearing certain things hard. But Mother Nature balanced that out with exceptional senses of vision and smell. My brothers and I actually have ear holes, just no earflaps like you do."

"I never noticed."

"The masks cover them. We also have teeth, which a normal turtle doesn't have. Another thing is, you know most turtles are cold blooded, right?" Both humans nodded. "We aren't. Think about it, if we were, we wouldn't be able to work in some of the environments we've had to go to over the years. A simple snowstorm would slow us down to the point that we could die. We get cold, but we don't have to bask in the sun to get the energy to get going. Which is why we feel warm to the touch...which I'm sure you both have noticed by now."

Suddenly they both looked a little embarrassed.

He just smiled a knowing smile before he continued. "It also boosted our strength, endurance, bone and muscle structure and healing capabilities just to name a few. Which is why Leo, and the rest of us, can hop off tall structures like that building with ease. Or why Raph here could turn you into a pretzel if he really wanted too. Our reinforced bodies can handle the stress of it. We've passed that down to our children, though theirs is thinned somewhat by the human influence mixed in."

"That sounds like that might have hurt...a lot..." Cindy looked around at the large turtles surrounding her.

"We were too young to remember it." Raphael assured her. "We were only babies when we were given the stuff."

"So yes," Mikey grinned "Lavi has a lot of power stored in that pretty frame. If she really wanted too, she could use you for a rug to wipe her feet on."

Kyle was looking at her now with a look still full of wonder but now mixed with a healthy dose of respect. Then Lavi ducked under a swing that had came for her quicker than he could follow and she followed that up with a leg sweep that he rally didn't see happen. Leonardo went down, but he was quickly back up into a kneeling position to get his blades up to block his son's. Then, still holding those blades with his, the elder turtled rolled himself around his son as Lavi came in with a hit from behind. Leonardo dodged that hit, and it almost hit Ty before he released his hold so he could lean back out of the way. Leonardo was back on his feet in an instant. "Holy crap! All of you fight like that?"

"More or less." Donatello told him with a smile.

"No wonder the old timers around here respect you so much... I can see why you were able to take on the Cons too. You blink and you miss half the fight."

"It does make it easier if you move quicker than they can target you." Michelangelo grinned. "Gotta be quick if ya don't want to get busted in the ass."

"Or shot in it by a very pissed off Sunstreaker." Donnie grinned at him.

"That too."

"You deserved that one." Raph rumbled.

"Did not! It wasn't my fault he was parked in my landing zone."

Raphael rolled his eyes.

"I'm almost too scared to ask." Cindy chuckled. She was finding these older turtles to be quite amusing. She looked back at the fighting family. They were also quite deadly. And Titian was just as fierce.

Donatello smiled at her. "He was being an idiot and landed ontop Of Sunstreaker, scratching the paint in the process. I'm sure you can imagine how that went over."

Kyle grinned and shook his head. "Not well I'm assuming."

"Nope." Raphael grinned back at him. "Leo and I had to go save his ass while the Bots tried to calm him down."

Mikey just shrugged. "That's what family is for, right? You save me while I have fun." He just barely managed to duck the smack his red masked brother sent his way, but could dodge the one from Leonardo who had come up from behind. "Ow!"

Leonardo just smiled as he shook his head. "Which is why I have come to my decision. It may be slower, but we will go after them one at a time. Just so we can make sure Mikey stays out of trouble."

The faces of the turtles suddenly grew serious as the talk shifted to the current mission. "You sure Leo?" Donnie asked him.

"Positive. I'm getting a feeling that we should all stay together. Now that I can think clearly enough to hear it, I'm pretty sure on who is trying to tell me that."

The elder turtles seemed to catch on to what he was saying, and Donnie scrambled off to set things into motion with Jazz. The younger individuals seemed a little confused. Mikey looked at them a little sadly. "It's a long story, and I'm not sure you would believe us if we told you."

"Go get geared up and tell your cousins to do the same." Leo told his children. "We leave as soon as we are able too." Then he looked at Kyle and Cindy. "Could you please go get Lennox and Epps for me?"

"Sure thing."

Ty and Lavi dashed off with the two humans not far behind as Raph looked at his brother. "Fight cleared your head a little?"

Leo just nodded as he watched his children. "Not much really. I'm still confused about a lot of things, but this one issue does seem a bit clearer."

Raph sighed. "It's a start at least."


	13. Chapter 13

"I can't believe you are going to drag us on a round trip across the country." I mumbled as I settled down into my seat for a long nap.

"I have my reasons dear one." Leo smiled back at me.

"They better be good for me to put up with little drummer boy back there." I replied.

"Hah ha." Ty dryly said.

We had already been on the road for a couple of hours now, a fraction of the time we were going to actually be on the road. At least we were heading to the closest one first, but it was still over in D.C. We were going to be on the road for a bit. The others were spread out in a long convoy on the road, along with a few of Will's men. Kyle and Cindy among them, to the delight of my twins.

There was the sound of a horn honking and suddenly we were passed by some cars, who were obviously showing off. Bee zoomed by, with a happily grinning Mikey and Ari inside and a moment later Sides zipped past us with Cris and Amy and Sunny, surprisingly, carrying Thane.

 **-Too slow oldtimer!-** Sides cackled over the comm to Hide.

"Will you knock it off! We aren't out here to race!"

Bee just honked his horn again and picked up speed.

"Sunny, I think he's saying that just because he knows he can't keep up."

"Don't call me that fragger!"

Then they too sped off, but not before Sides blew smoke from his exhaust all over Hide.

"That's it!" Buckles snapped into place as the seatbelts slipped over us, then he broke the convoy line and took off after the now rapidly fleeing trio, with Sides' laughing still coming over the comm line.

"Oh no..." Leo groaned as he gripped the oh shit bar.

Ty and Lavi didn't hear him, they were already laughing with almost child like glee as Hide quickly closed the gap.

 **-Hey! Looks like the ancient bucket of bolts wants to play after all!-**

"I'll show you ancient!" Hide caught up to him enough to ram into Sides, who just kept laughing as he fishtailed for a little bit.

"And here I was thinking this trip was going to be boring." I chuckled at Leo's exasperated look.

 **-We don't do boring Vic! You should know that by now.-**

 **-A'ight. Settle down.-** Jazz's amused tone actually kinda took away from the stern words of the order. **-Don' need tha cops comin' out ta say hi.-**

 **-Like they are something to worry about.-** Sides snipped back.

 **-Sideswipe,-** came Prime's stern warning **-that is enough. We do not need to draw attention to ourselves.-**

The response to that was a disappointed sigh before the sportsters fell back into line, but not before Hide gave Sides another bump.

Truthfully though, the bots did manage to make the trip bearable. Not great, but bearable. Little acts like that, along with all of the crazy banter, did make the time seem to fly by a lot faster. so when we stopped after a couple of day s of traveling, the mood was still light. Even if the bots still couldn't get into the town.

Time the turtles waited on the edge of town with the bots while we made our way farther in. This was going to be a bit more trickier, if we got caught with the goods, things might be a bit harder to get out of. Really didn't think "Sorry, mystical mind invaders are making us do this." was going to fly. But what other option did we have. We didn't even know what we were really looking for, and it's hard to set up a sale, that could take weeks to go through anyway, when you didn't even know what to bid on.

This one was a lot more nicer, and larger, than the little podunk town one we had been too a few days prior. We all took careful notes of the security guards and numerous cameras, but our secret weapon was already on it. On the camera part at least.

 _"Let me know when you find it."_ Donnie's voice came over the headset I was wearing. _"I'll take care of the cameras. The guards are all up to you though."_

"Thanks a lot." I muttered back at him.

 _"No problem."_

We spent at least an hour in the place, wandering and browsing. I actually looked at alot of stuff here. It would have maybe been nice to spend more time among the artifacts that actually did instill some awe and wonder in me. I've always been one interested in the curiosities in life. Regret that I had come here for something completely different than wanting to immerse myself in history, science and just all around coolness of what our world had to offer, over took me a bit as we walked along.

Half of the place had been covered before we even entered the Asian section. Everything you could imagine from those countries was on display here. Ancient weapons and armour stood next to literature and art. Over and over we stopped, looked and shook our heads as the item in front of us didn't seem to be what we needed, then we moved on to the next. I can't tell you how many times we did that.

"This is getting tedious." Cris mumbled as we again abandoned an artifact to go down the line.

"You're telling me." Marina sighed. "Not the way I really wanted to-" she suddenly cut off what she was saying.

"Not wanting to what?" Cris asked her, then stopped and stared as she got a good look at her.

It was Caitlin all over again, and I started trembling a little as Marina's eyes glazed over and she stiffly walked on, passing numerous objects.

"Donnie..." I chocked into the headset.

 _"Yes?"_

"You might want to start working on those cameras... It's happening again."

 _"On it."_

 _"Is it Cait again?"_ Mikey's worried voice stepped over Donnie's. _"I knew I shouldn't have let her go!"_

There was the sound of a well placed smack and he was quiet again after that.

"Come on Casey." Amy grabbed his arm and moved away with him. "We'll go set up a distraction."

"Good. I love distractions."

The rest of us were following Marina as she zombied across the place. She finally came to a stop in front of a terracotta statue. It wasn't very large and again the craftsmanship on it wasn't anything special besides it having endured time. It was a simple replica of a man standing watch on a cliff face, with a bo staff in his hand. The whole thing was so old and had been exposed to who knows what, and all of that gave it an unusual purple hue. In the lines that had been carved to resemble the ragged cliff edge, once again hidden well enough it took me a moment to find it, was another mask. Again my hands started to shake as Marina's hands slowly stretched out in front of her, even as Cris and Cait looked around nervously, hoping to all hell that no one was watching. Thank god no one was. Thank something anyway.

She just stood there, her eyes unseeing as she seemed to wait for something, her hands extended. Then, as the first sounds of a large commotion happened somewhere behind us, the statue glowed a faint purple before a piece of it seemed to move and slam into the pedestal it was sitting on, the momentum of that flipping it right into Marina's waiting palms.

"Tell me that didn't just happen..." Cris' eyes were wide as she stared at it.

I just nodded dumbly, just in as much shock as the first time as I stood gaping as Marina came back around, blinking her eyes in confusion, then her eyes went to the statue in her palms. Those hands shook a moment as her eyes grew wide before she quickly composed herself and tucked it away.

"Let's get out of here!" Cris hissed under her breath.

With curt nods, and Dennis politely shouldering anyone out of the way who didn't move quick enough on their own, we did just that. We were almost running by the time we came barging out the front door, but no one stopped us. That too was a bit weird, it was almost as if no one even noticed us on the way out. I didn't dwell on it, because not long after Casey and Amy came out just as quick as we did.

Once that happened, we didn't even try to hide it anymore, we hauled ass. Very quickly. Marina even vaulted over a curbside food vendor because it was in her way. Didn't care, nope, not at all. We just wanted to get as far away as we quickly could at that point.

We just rounded a corner when our chariots appeared, screeching to a stop in front of us and doors flinging open and turtles yanking us inside. It was by pure luck that Marina ended up in Hide with Leo, the twins and I.

"What did you find?" Came the question before Hide could even really clear the area.

Marina pulled out the statue, that somehow survived all of that in one piece, and showed it to Leo.

His eyes looked it over thoughtfully, trying to piece this together on how it fit with the painting that Caitlin still held onto. But the only thing we could figure out that had any connection was the hidden references to his brothers, that made his eyes go wide a bit again. I could tell he was creeped out, and I didn't need the bond to feel it. Just the simple fact that the obvious connections to Donnie and Mikey were hidden inside of artifacts that were, at least, hundreds of years old was enough to keep shaking his normally rock solid foundation in what he thought he knew of themselves.

"Again, more questions when there should be answers..." He sighed as he shook his head. "When we stop next have Donnie look it over, though I doubt he'll find anything unusual about it."

"Just like the painting." I added and he nodded.

"None of it makes sense." Marina sighed as she looked at the statue in her hands. "And, I really hate to admit this...but it's starting to scare me."

The twins were quite as they listened, but even they had that slight wild eyed look on their faces. And I wasn't even going to deny that the same feelings were running through Leo's head, as well as mine. We just didn't understand and with that lack of understanding we didn't know what was happening. Therefore we didn't know what to do to prepare for it.

"What was it like?" I asked Marina. None of us really had asked Caitlin, mainly because she was still very badly shaken about what had happened and Mikey furiously protected her over those discussions. Between her reaction and his protectiveness, you really couldn't get a clear answer out of her. Marina seemed a bit more sturdy, though not by much.

Her blue eyes looked out the window a few moments before she spoke again to answer. "I'm not sure I can describe it. It was definitely something taking over, but it didn't feel malevolent in any way. Whatever it was seemed very concerned about not hurting me as it gently pushed my mind aside to take control. Then, it was as if it was reaching out to something, calling it to them. When the feeling left, I woke up with the statue in my hands."

"Any idea who, or what, it could have been?" Leo asked her.

Marina shook her head. "I have no clue Leo. I've never felt that presence before."

"Reptile, you and your family managed to get yourselves pulled into a decent mess this time." Hide said quietly.

"And I don't even know why." Leo replied just as quietly. "And, for some reason, it's that why that is worrying me the most."


	14. Chapter 14

That night a halt was called, much to the relief of the organic pretzels inside of all of the vehicles. And Lavi suspected the Bots were happy about it too once they all pulled into a secluded area. When everyone was unloaded, there was a whole lot of stretching going on, by both fleshies and machines.

"I'm all for the chance to turn the tires loose on the road," Sides said as he unfolded from his car form "but this extended driving, with passengers, is seriously cramping me up."

"Think of how we feel." Cris told him. "We don't even have a decent place to stretch out to sleep."

"At least you _get_ to sleep. We haven't had a serious recharge moment since we left."

Will walked over with a grin. "Which is why we've decided to hang out here tonight. Everybody is going to get a chance to rest and we'll head back out again in the morning."

"If you call sleeping in a tent a good night's rest." Casey grumbled.

"This from the one who prides himself on his adventurous spirit." April rolled her eyes.

"That was twenty years ago. Not so enjoyable anymore as I get older."

Lavi's father was walking by when he heard that comment, and Lavi clearly saw the pain cross his features before quickly hiding it again. Again she wondered what was bothering him. He seemed a bit better, but there was still an underlying sadness that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

 _'He has been acting off the last few weeks.'_ Ty silently agreed with her as he also watched from where he was helping Thane raise a tent.

 _'I just don't understand what's wrong with him.'_

 _'And you won't unless he tells you, which you know he won't do.'_

Lavi just sighed before turning back to her own tent that she was going to share with Ari. She was rapidly missing her old father. The one who was always calm, happy, confident. The one who always pushed her during training, and offering words of encouragement and advice on how to better improve. Now he seemed unsure, hesitant and even sad at times. The sparring match they had a few days ago was indeed different, and even fun she had to admit, but it hadn't done enough to restore whatever faith had been lost in him. Not all of it anyway. It was a band-aid on a gaping wound really. But, even as Ty said, she knew her father well enough to know he wouldn't tell her what was bothering him.

She was still thinking about it when her time came to take her watch. Father insisted that his own family members assist in it. None of them were sure it was really needed since the bots seemed more than capable to handle that on their own, but his reasoning did make sense he gave the NEST team. "You are out here because we pretty much drug you out here to find the answers we all are looking for. We will help with the responsibilities of keeping all of us safe." He was in fact holding himself to those words as he shared Lavi's watch, covering the south end while she kept a watchful eye on the north side of camp.

Her hour was pretty much uneventful and she was actually a little bored by the time Dante found her and relieved her. And he wasn't alone. Kyle walked alongside the yellow masked turtle, chatting easily. Over all Kyle felt much more at ease with the younger turtles than with the very intimidating older ones. He was frequently hanging out with them, and the more he did the more Lavi felt a pull towards him. Even looking at him right now sent butterflies swarming in her stomach. She always seemed to be nervous and excited all at the same time when she was near him.

"There she is." Kyle's warm smile popped onto his face when he saw her. "Thought it would be harder find a ninja."

Her smile that she returned was genuine. "Only if they don't want to be found. I want to be found because I really don't want to be out here all night."

Kyle laughed a little at that. "I guess I'm lucky you want to be found then. I'd rather look at you than all these guys out here."

Dante chuckled a little. "Don't let Uncle Leo hear that."

Kyle flinched a little, then looked nervously around.

"Stop it." Lavi told her now grinning cousin. "He gets enough grief from Father." Before Dante could scare the poor man even more, Lavi grabbed Kyle's arm and led him away. "I swear...they are all so childish sometimes." She shook her head.

"But that's what makes life so fun!"

"Depends on your point of view I guess. It gets annoying sometimes."

"No worse than these crazy ass bots get I'm sure."

Lavi smiled as she let his arm go, only for him to wrap it around hers as they walked on. "They are a colorful bunch."

"In more ways than one." Kyle agreed. "Some of their paint jobs are bad enough to give you seizures."

"You should see some of the paintings Uncle Mikey does. Hurts your eyes to look at them."

"I didn't know he painted."

"Not many do, simply because he doesn't do it a lot. His creative genius tends to lean more towards finding new ways to prank Uncle Raph."

Kyle's face took on a wry expression. "I give him kudos just for that. Raphael is one big dude to be messing with."

"True, but Uncle Mikey has the quick feet to pull it off. Most of the time."

"You know...I've noticed that a time or two." He grinned at her. "Your family is very interesting. I'd love to get to know them all better."

"You already know my brother and cousins, somewhat."

"True, but it's the fathers I'd really love to get to know."

She gave him a teasing smile. "Why? So you can get a front row seat on the action when Uncle Raph goes off?"

"No, because a certain turtle in their family has caught my eye, and I'm seriously thinking that winning Leonardo over might be a very important thing to accomplish here pretty soon."

Lavi was so grateful it was in the middle of the night so the darkness was able to hide her furiously blushing face. She even couldn't meet his eyes when he stopped and turned her to face him. He met her eyes and those butterflies in her stomach just turned into albatrosses by the look he was giving her. Chills ran down her spine when he lightly brushed her cheek with his finger tips. "I really do love your eyes Lavi, and I'm starting to like the rest of you just as much. I'd willingly brave the wrath of your father if it gives us a chance at something."

She tried to get her mouth to work, but really couldn't because her mind was seriously spinning around in an emotional whirlwind. "A chance at what?" Lavi was hoping that he was hinting at what she thought he was hinting at.

His eyes still held hers as he asked something that almost made her knees give out under her. "From what I gather from everything I've heard about you, you've never had a decent, romantic first kiss...have you?"

"N-no..." She almost looked away again, but his hand kept her from doing that. "No one wants to kiss a freak like me."

"I do." He said, and her heart skipped quite a few beats. She didn't stop him as his head came towards her. His lips met hers and he gently pulled her against him.

Lavi didn't really know what to do. She was thrilled, but felt awkward at the same time, she didn't know what to do with her damn hands. Finally she just settled them on his chest and leaned into the kiss, letting his probing tongue in. Her eyes closed as his tongue met hers, caressing it, tasting it. She really didn't know what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised over the feelings washing over her. Her hands seemed to move on their own as they reached up and her arms encircled Kyle's neck, her fingers now in his black hair. Elation soon had her responding to his kiss, her mouth wanting more of his. He was kissing her, and it felt so right...

After what seemed like ages they broke it, Lavi now standing on trembling legs as she tried to make sense of what just happened. She didn't however pull out of his arms, that she just now noticed had wrapped around her waist. The smile Kyle gave her was warm. "Now you can honestly say you've had your first kiss. I just hope it was one worth remembering."

"It...was..." She smiled back at him. "Good enough for me to want another."

"Not going to argue with that..."

This time when their lips met it wasn't so awkward to Lavi. Her lips pressed just as firmly against his as his did to hers. What stopped it this time was the slight growling moan that escaped her throat as she pushed herself against Kyle hard enough to slam him into the tree behind him. Lavi almost jumped out of his arms, her face now very heated in embarrassment over the primal urges that had came from her. "I'm...I'm sorry... I didn't mean to...do that..." She turned and fled into the woods, leaving a very confused Kyle standing there.

"Lavi! Wait!" He called after her, he even went so far to go after her a few steps.

"Let her go." Kyle froze at the sound of that voice, then slowly, and nervously, turned to face the owner as Leonardo came out from under the trees on his other side. "She needs time to process this."

Kyle really wasn't sure how much the turtle had seen, and was really hoping it wasn't much. "I-I didn't mean to-"

An upraised hand stopped him short as those ice blue eyes, so clear even in this dark night, bored into him. It made the human very nervous that he couldn't read a damn thing in them. If he was about to get his ass pummeled, he was hoping to at least catch a glimpse of it in his eyes as _some_ kind of warning. He knew that would be the only one he would get. The moments drug on and that really didn't help Kyle's nervousness any. This was the first time he had been alone with Lavi's father, and he was praying he wouldn't end up in a full body cast.

Then those eyes went to the spot Lavi had disappeared through. Made Kyle feel a lot better actually, not being under that intense stare. Leonardo's voice was quiet when he finally spoke, his eyes still locked onto the last spot they had both seen her. "Before I even start with what I came to say, I want to know. Do you truly care for her, or is what she is attracting you to her?"

"Um...I'm not sure I understand what you are getting at..."

Now those eyes were back on him again, and he flinched a little. "I thought I asked quite clearly myself. But let me rephrase it a little. She is different. We both know that. She's half human, half turtle. There is nothing else out there like her, besides Ari. She is exotic, mysterious in a lot of ways to you. Not to mention I know very well the reputation we carry with all of you here and being with her would seriously boost your ego among your colleagues. I want to know if you are drawn to _who_ she is, or _what_ she is."

Kyle knew the answer to this was very important to Leonardo. The stern gaze leveled his way was more than enough to clue him in to that fact. Just like he somehow knew the turtle would know if he tried to lie. "Both actually." He admitted. "But not for the reasons you think." He quickly added when he saw those eyes flash with anger. "She is different, yes. And yes, her being your daughter would make me look good around the others if I parade her around on my arm. But that's not the reason I'm interested in her. I could give a damn of what the others think of me. She is part turtle but I find her beautiful Leonardo, both inside and out. Her being what she is doesn't blind me to who she is. And who she is, is someone I want to be close to. My feelings for her are genuine, I guarantee you that."

It hung there for a moment as Leonardo studied him, his eyes thoughtful. "Very well," He finally said, much to Kyle's relief "then we can have this discussion without me hanging you upside down in a tree by your shoelaces."

Kyle was so happy to hear that.

The turtle in front of him then sighed quietly as his hard eyes softened. "I guess I should have had this conversation with you earlier, when I first noticed what was going on between you two. Instead I chose to hide in my own misery over things that are rapidly changing."

Kyle wasn't sure what to say to that, but he was glad that Leonardo wanted to talk...not beat him to a pulp. It was one thing dealing with a shotgun carrying dad, a Ninja Turtle one was so much more intimidating. That fucker could kill him and Kyle would never see the blow coming.

Leonardo smiled a wry smile, clearly reading what Kyle was thinking on the human's face. "Easy, I won't hurt you. Not unless you give me a reason too. But we do need to talk."

"About what?"

"Lavi." He took a moment to gather his thoughts before he spoke again. "I've already had this conversation with Ty and was hoping to catch Lavi before...this happened. But now seeing what I just saw, I think you need to be told as well."

"Ok, Leonardo, you are seriously creeping me out..."

"I'm not trying too." He sighed. "I'm just not good with these things. I can plan, lead, guide under pressure, but I still struggle when it comes to my children. Just bear with an old father who has a hard time letting go."

Kyle smiled at him, and was thrilled when a small one was returned. "Fair enough. I've seen it in my own Dad with my little sister. He didn't exactly have an easy time of it either letting her grow up."

"It's something about those eyes." Leonard told him ruefully. "I could never tell her no when she batted them at me." Kyle actually laughed. "Anyway. Ty is the more stable one of the two. He's just as nervous as Lavi is over...this. He's using his past experience with leading his cousins to drown out certain, mental reflexes if you will. Lavi never had to really drown out her instincts like he did a few times."

"I'm not sure I understand..."

"You will in a minute. Despite how we look and act, we still are part animal. There is no way around accepting that fact. Ty is more level headed and mentally trained to drown out the more primal side. Lavi is more like her mother, she lets her heart guide her...and you have no idea how much trouble that has caused me over the years."

"I've heard the stories." Kyle chuckled. "Did Vicky really make Starscream blow his own arm off?"

"Yes, after her mad ride through a concentrated group of Cons. The point I'm getting at here is this. Lavi is still young, she is still fighting certain, urges if you will. She's never been in this situation before and her animal instincts are kicking into overdrive. Add the fact in that she feels very strongly, she's having trouble facing, and controlling those instincts. I'm not saying that she can't have a relationship, just that she is going to have a hard time trying to figure out how to control herself."

"Ok...I can understand that...I think... I am a bit surprised that you are talking to me about something so...personal."

"Only because I know what she is going through. Kyle, when I met her mother for the first time, I was already well into adulthood. I've had the chance to face those feelings myself and learn how to drown them out. But to be honest even I've slipped once or twice. Vicky knows it because she forced it out of me before without even realising what she'd done. Lavi has had none of that experience. She's scared, confused and really doesn't know what to do. She knows what she wants, but not what to do. Patience is the key here. She needs to work through this, and may need help to do so."

"From who? You?"

"I'm not the one she is attracted to."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because you are the one she wants to be with. Didn't I just say that?" Leonardo looked at the befuddled Kyle with slight amusement. "If you want to play the game, you need to know the stakes. I can't tell her what the acceptable boundaries are between you two, that is something only you can discuss with her. Vicky and I know what mine are, after that first incident. And she knows not to wear that nightgown again unless she wants to invite that more...primal side into the bedroom..." For a moment Leonardo's eyes were lost in the distance before he shook the memory clear.

"I really didn't need to hear that..."

"I'm sorry." His chuckle crossed the empty space between them. "It's just that, I only have my own experiences to share with you to help you understand."

This time Kyle was the one looking where Lavi had disappeared too. "I...think I do understand a bit better now."

"Good, then let's go find her. I got a feeling you are about to get a crash course on how to track a ninja."


	15. Chapter 15

Lavi didn't know how far she ran in her confused state before she collapsed to the ground on trembling knees. What did she just do? One moment she was happily exploring the beginnings of a new relationship, her first relationship, and the next she was acting like some kind of savage as she tried to force herself on Kyle. Her hands were shaking as she remembered how the smell of Kyle's interest in her had unleashed something in her that actually frightened her. She couldn't control herself as that other side took over. It was only the fear of her hurting him that snapped her out of it.

She stared now at those hands a very long while as they shook. "What is wrong with me... Maybe I am a freak..." She fought back the tears. Tears of frustration of being what she was. Why couldn't she be normal?

"No, you are not. You are my daughter." Father's calm voice came to her before his arms did. She couldn't see in her tear blurred vision, but she clearly felt him wrap his arms around her.

"Daddy... I'm so scared... I-I-" She tried to tell him, but the words wouldn't form past her shame and fear.

"I know turtle dove, I saw what happened." He had pulled her against him by now and his deep voice vibrated against her as he calmed her. "I was expecting it actually."

She sniffled and wiped her eyes before pulling away from him a bit. "What? Were you spying on me again?"

"Of course, it's what I'm supposed to do." He just calmly smiled as he fixed her now crooked mask that had shifted as she cried. "What you are going through is normal. Normal for us anyway. I supposed I should have broken the subject to you sooner, but I really wasn't expecting you to find someone just yet. Not really sure if I was ever expecting you to find someone."

She blushed a little, very embarrassed over it all still. "I really like him Dad... And now I'm scared that I scared him away..."

"You didn't pretty girl." Kyle came into her view then and knelt down next to her father. "Confused me a little, but your Dad explained some things to me, and it makes more sense now."

"Explained what?" Her confused face went back and forth between the two.

Father gave her a wry smile. "Pumpkin, I'm about to embarrass the hell out of you, but what you are experiencing is your animal side reacting to your first potential mate."

He was right, he did just embarrass the hell out of her. Lavi's face was flaming and she hid it in her father's chest. "I'm going to die from embarrassment... I'm going to be the first ever life form to do that..."

 _'Oh no sis,'_ Ty then joined in _'you may wish you did, but you won't... I had a similar conversation with him before he went looking for you when i relieved him of guard duty. Much to my dismay...I managed to survive it. Never been so embarrassed in my life.'_

Lavi just groaned into her father's chest.

"I know, not the thing you were expecting to hear. But it needed to be said."

"But did you really have to say that in front of Kyle?"

"Yes, I did. He needs to understand certain things you are going to have to deal with until you learn to control it. It wouldn't be fair to him otherwise."

"Lavi," Kyle said "look at me..."

"No." She flat out refused, still hiding her face. "I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to look at you without blushing again."

Both of them laughed a little before Kyle reached out his hand and turned her head so she didn't have a choice but to look at him. "I think you are pretty when you blush. Look, I'm even still standing, with no broken bones, after talking to your Dad. You gotta give me _some_ thing to go through that nightmare of a discussion. I was worried he'd pound me to a pulp there for a minute."

"I was about too." Came Father's flat tone.

"Oh, Daddy..." Lavi sighed.

Father just shrugged. "I just don't want you to grow up yet. If beating him into a puddle of pudding delays that...then I was willing to do it."

"Will you quit!" Lavi turned to glare at him, and saw the wide mischievous grin Father had on his face. In spite of herself, she laughed.

Kyle also chuckled a little. "There you go. See? What happened earlier isn't the end of the world."

"Still...it scared me. It still scares me."

"Only because you don't fully understand what's happening little one." Father's eyes were calm as he looked at her, and that in turn kept her calm. "You've never felt close to someone like that before, so you didn't know your body would react the way it did. The first few times are rough, I will tell you that. But it does get easier to control down the line."

"So, is this like some kind of mating season thing? Am I going to have to put up with this every year now?"

"Have you been reading those cheesy ass fanfic stories your mother reads again?"

Lavi blushed. She had been...

Father shook his head. "That's not how it works Lavi. We've evolved to the point where our instincts aren't set into one particular season. This could have just as easily happened in the wintertime. Our instincts have been, how should I put this, tamed a bit due to our transformation in this form. But only to the point where we don't go in a lust filled rampage for a few weeks a year. They still come up enough to remind us that they are there, but they are also more controllable than that basic need to reproduce. You just need time to learn how is all."

She nodded, still a bit embarrassed over the whole ordeal. Wasn't really a conversation she had expected to have with her Father...and Kyle of all people...

Kyle didn't seemed phased too much over it, he actually reached over and took her out of her Father's arms. Well, he tried too. It was a tugging match between the two of them for a moment until Lavi glared at Father to make him let her go. He finally did with a sigh and a wistful look at them.

"It's ok Lavi. It's a part of who you are. I accept it. We'll just take it slow alright?" He placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face to him. "I'm not scared of it, and you shouldn't be ashamed of it."

She wrapped her arms around him, a few tears leaking down her face.

Leonardo watched with a small smile. His eyes softening as he saw how happy she actually was with him. "Turtle dove, it seems like you made a good choice with him." Then he eyed Kyle a bit critically. "I might have to train him a bit to toughen him up though."

"Dad...why do you have to do that?"

"Because I can. Didn't I tell you that already?" He grinned again. "I'm your Father and that gives me every right to be an ass towards him."

This time they all laughed a little at that, and the uncomfortable mood was now pretty much gone. "Oh Daddy," Lavi giggled "I love you." She turned Kyle lose and gave the large pain in the ass parent a hug.

"I love you too lil bit." He stood up and pulled Lavi by her hand to her feet. "Come on, let's get back before your Mother comes stomping out here to yell at me."

Kyle had just gotten to his feet when a light flared up in the sky. Lavi had just a moment to see that it was another meteor shower before one of them broke from the rest and headed straight for them. What in the...

The next thing she felt was Father ramming his body both into her and Kyle, slamming them both into the ground under him as the thing hit, sending chunks of dirt and rock flying everywhere. All of them covered their heads as best as they could as Father's shell took most of the hits. He still flinched a few times when a decent chunk hit his exposed legs. He waited until everything stopped falling before he quickly rolled off of them and onto his feet, ignoring the blows that his legs had taken.

Lavi was the second one on her feet even as the expected form came out of the crater in front of them. Slowly it rose up, it's purple eyes clearly visible in the dust cloud surrounding it. She also noticed that it was bigger than the last batch that came in. Easily clearing the ten foot mark. This one was closer to twenty.

Father just stared it down as it did the predictable thing and started to stomp towards them, slow and measured paces as it locked it's eyes onto them. "Lavi."

"Yes Father?"

"Get back to the others, I'll draw it away."

"I will do no such thing!" She flared. Angry that he even suggest it.

He broke the gaze from it, and turned his eyes to her. "Lavi, get Kyle and get out of here."

"Dad-"

"Go!" He almost roared at her. "He isn't equipped to deal with this. Not on his own."

Lavi bit back her retort, because he was right. Out of all three of them Kyle was the most vulnerable and she had to get him back where he could team up with others to hold back these things. She still had to bite the inside of her cheek in frustration though. Her hand grabbed Kyle's arm and she practically drug him along back towards where they had set up their campsite, and quickly lost sight of her Father in the trees and dust.

What she finally found was a mini war zone when she made it back to camp. Rounds were being fired everywhere and her own family was scrambling around in the chaos, finding their own places in the battle. Even as she emerged from the treeline Uncle Raph was already up on top of one, taking out the eyes on it and diverting it's attention away from a fleeing Aunt Cait who was being drug out of the way by Ari. When the predictable upwards reach of the bot began, he quickly flipped out of the way leaving the head now wide open for a headshot, which Sunstreaker quickly took advantage of. The red masked turtle hit the ground amid a shower of sparks and flaming bits before he sped away to his next target.

Kyle had by now pulled his arm out of her hand and ran right for one of the trucks that was speeding towards him, and his weapon came flying out of it before he caught it. "Been looking for you!" the thrower, Cindy, told him from the passenger seat. "Was starting to get worried that you might have gotten stepped on."

"Not likely." Kyle snorted his reply before he hopped onto the vehicle and then Lavi lost sight of him as it sped off to engage another bot.

She didn't really know where she fit in in this mess, but she did know her Father was out in the woods, alone with one of these things. That was something she would not let stand. Lavi had done what her Father had asked, now it was time to go back and help her sire. She made it about two steps before that was prevented from happening...because she was lifted into the air.

"And where exactly do you think you are going youngling?" Hide asked her as he removed her from the sights of another purple eyed target, then blasted that target.

"Dad is still out there!" she snapped back at him, even as she began to make her way down his arm. "And he's outmatched if that thing keeps getting back up like the last time!"

Ironhide readjusted his grip on her, then placed her on his shoulder. "Hold on." Was the only warning she got before he started to run into the forest she had tried to get too.

It took them mere moments to make it back, way quicker than it took her to get to camp, but it still seemed like forever to the worried turtle. Lavi perched on that shoulder as she guided Hide, impatiently waiting for the clearing to come into view. And when it did she really didn't like what she saw. It had managed to pin her Father down, and he wasn't moving as a foot came up to step on him. A foot Hide promptly blew off even as it began it's downward stomp.

"Go to him." The black bot growled at her even as he unleashed another volley at the thing, and yet another. Knocking it away from the dazed turtle on the ground, and blasting it to tiny pieces as he advanced with each grim step. "I'll handle this."

This time there was no restraining hand to stop her as she flipped off of the Autobot, hit the ground, and rushed to the prone, limp, body on the ground.

"Daddy!" Her voice now filled with the worry that she was feeling as she knelt next to him. "Dad!"

His groan at being pestered was a welcome sound to her ears, just as welcome as the sight of his limbs moving. "Didn't...I tell you to go back...

"You told me to get Kyle out of here, and I did. You never specified that I couldn't come back for you."

"I shouldn't have had too." He struggled to his feet, Lavi helping him even as Hide blasted his opponent into so many tiny pieces that it didn't have a chance in hell to get back up.

"Still the noble, self sacrificing reptile I see." Hide said as he calmly reached down and picked the struggling turtle up. "You should be grateful she brought this to my attention."

A heavy sigh came from Father even as he collapsed in Hide's hand. "I am Hide, I just wish they'd listen when they are told something."

A snort was his answer. "Just taking after their creators. You are just about as hard headed, and so is Vicky. It's only natural for them to show the same traits. Climb up Young one and let's get this stubborn creature some medical attention."

Father rolled his eyes as Lavi climbed back up with a giggle before once again perching on the massive shoulder. After she was settled Hide began the trek back to camp, the sound of a muttering Leonardo causing both of his saviors to share a knowing grin at his expense. Lavi just shrugged. It was his own damn fault, he shouldn't have pounded those morals so deep into her, because now he was stuck with her the way she was.


	16. Chapter 16

The camp site, and most of the tents, was ruined. There were small fires everywhere with troops scrambling around trying to put them out. Several vehicles were overturned, some with the occupants still inside. And the clearing was littered with parts that had once been the bots we had been fighting. In short, it was one big mess.

I stood in the middle of that mess trying to help the best way I could. And at the moment that way was trying to help a crew trapped inside of a flipped, burning vehicle. I was so grateful that these were the type of vehicles that didn't have doors on them, really didn't feel like ripping them off because the frame was all bent to hell. Tony came running up as I was pulling the driver out and knelt down next to him after I got him far enough away. Then i turned back to the vehicle once the medic took over his care.

The passenger was a bit more challenging to get to because of the way the vehicle was lying. The quickest way to get them out would be to lift the other side then pull them out. Pretty hard to do, if you were normal and not running on adrenaline. I ran around the thing as it burned even more, filling the area around me with smoke and I began to start cursing under my breath. I knew I didn't have much time before the whole thing would be in flames. Even as I set myself, Kyle came running towards me through the smoke, holding his side. I assumed that he got thrown from it as it over turned. "We need to hurry! Cindy is still stuck in there!"

"No shit sherlock!" I grumbled back as I began to lift, but I wasn't quite strong enough. "Wait...Cindy is in it?"

I had barely processed that thought when I was suddenly pushed out of the way by a larger figure. Two of them actually. Thane was there with Ty as they gripped the vehicle, and tilted it up. I zeroed in on that red shock of hair and somehow managed to get my arms around her enough to be able to try and pull her out. What made it a bit more difficult was the fact that she was limp and kept getting hung up in all kinds of crap. After a few moments of me struggling with her and really not making progress, Ty crouched down next to me and furiously ripped everything out of the way before helping me to get her out of her unwilling confinement.

She slid limply out of the vehicle and into his arms as he picked her up. We then backed away and Thane let the contraption fall with a relieved grunt and then dragged Kyle along with us as we moved a safe distance away. Just in time too, because not much long after that the whole thing was in flames.

Ty didn't notice it. His eyes were locked on the nonresponsive woman in his arms and you could see the sheer worry on his face. A worry I echoed. I had no idea how long she had been stuck in that wreck or how much smoke she had inhaled. We brought her and Kyle to Tony who was just finishing with the driver. Ty's eyes silently pleading as he laid her down gently on the ground.

Tony didn't even hesitate as he moved on to her. He checked her pulse and cursed loudly a moment before digging around in his medpack.

That didn't really help Ty's anxiety any. "Is she...she..."

"Not now Ty!" Tony snapped back at him. "I'm busy!"

My son watched with wide eyes as Tony worked, hovering close by but not getting in the way of the medic. Tony worked calm and confidently, bringing life back into the pale girl lying on the ground in front of him. I think we all took a relieved breath when she finally gasped for air before coughing, trying to clear out her lungs. Tony turned to get her an oxygen mask out of his pack, turned back, and blinked a moment when he noticed his patient had been snatched from him. He glared at Ty who was holding her gasping body close to him. "Really?"

Ty didn't hear him as he brushed Cindy's hair out of her face as he looked down at her. Her green eyes finally blinked open and she managed a smile at him. "Hey...I broke my car. Think Epps is going to yell at me?"

He didn't say anything as he studied her face for a long while, reassuring himself that she was indeed still alive and kicking. Then he shocked the hell out of her and us when he brought his face down and kissed her.

Thane opened his mouth, no doubt intending to tease his cousin until I elbowed him in the side...hard. "Not a word out of you." I mumbled. His mouth shut again with a clack of his teeth as he glared at me while rubbing his side.

Tony sat there, with a glower and his arms crossed as he waited. When Ty finally lifted his head again from a mildly shocked Cindy, who really didn't seem to upset about it if the small embarrassed smile on her face was any indication, Tony took the moment to plop the mask over her face. "Are you about done now?"

Ty blushed a little as he realised he just did that in front of an audience. "Ahh...yeah..." Then he looked at her again. "For now anyway."

Cindy blushed under her mask.

Tony rolled his eyes. " _Now_ the fucking love bug bites. In the middle of a damn disaster area."

Both of them blushed on that one.

Kyle however had a small knowing smile on his face before his eyes lifted from them and searched the woodline. And those eyes seemed relieved when Hide finally broke through, with Lavi on his shoulder and holding a very grumpy looking Leo in his hand. She hopped down even as Hide set down my surly husband. My brows shot up again when Lavi ran right for Kyle and almost knocked him over when she crashed into him. I moved at a more leisurely pace towards the fuming love of my life.

Hide's blue eyes looked amused at my stumbling mate. "He needs to be checked out."

"I'm fine!" Leo snapped.

"You are not fine you stubborn reptile, and you are reinforcing my belief that your younglings get their stubbornness from you."

I tilted my head at him as I reached him. "What is wrong with you?"

"Non listening children, that's what." He grumbled back as he glared at Lavi. Who was completely ignoring him as she hugged Kyle. A hug that was promptly broke up by a fussing Tony as he began a meticulous inspection of the area Kyle was favoring on his side.

"Ah." I tried not to smile, I just knew it would make matters worse. But I couldn't hide my amusement from him and he gave me "that look".

It didn't help matters any when Donnie caught on to what Hide was saying and began to pester his brother with scans. Was a little comical actually, Leo trying to slap him away and Donnie refusing to give in. And they were supposed to be the adult ones...

Donnie won. "A bit banged up, but he'll be fine. With some rest."

I snorted at that one, I knew Leo better. I got that look again for it too.

It was about that time Raph came stomping over, his eyes furious. "I'm really starting to get annoyed by getting clobbered by meteors turning into robots and trying to stomp on us."

Donnie tapped his chin thoughtfully. "They did seem to take a special interest in us. Seemed more worried about stepping all over me than trying to blow bots up that were nearby."

Leo glowered at him. "At least you didn't almost have one almost fall on top of you."

Donnie looked at him amused. "We noticed one had veered off from the bunch."

"I'm _so_ glad you did." Leo grumbled sarcastically.

Raph raised an eyeridge at him. "Who pissed in your Wheaties this morning?"

"Don't worry about it." Leo mumbled back at him. "Is everyone alright?"

"Just a bit banged up here and there." Donnie replied, even as Mikey walked up. "Might have been a different story if the bots hadn't been here."

Leo nodded. "That's twice now they pulled our backsides out of the fire."

Mikey looked a little worried. "Why are our backsides even hanging over it in the first place? I mean, if they came from space...what did we ever do to those cons for them to be targeting us?"

Leo shook his head. "I'm not sure what to tell you."

Prime came striding up then and his mask drew back once he got closer. "And I am not so sure they are affiliated with Megatron."

"You said what." Raph said flatly as he craned his neck up at the large leader.

Now Optimus was the one looking worried as he surveyed the destroyed camp. The fires were now all either extinguished or close to it. And I had a feeling he was looking at more than what he saw in front of him. He was looking inside as he tried to find answers to questions. What had my hair standing on edge was the sheer amount of concern on his face. He was a lot like Leo in a way, calm and not easily rattled. Well, Leo was calm and not rattled when his family listened to him. But the large bot was very rattled now.

He even went so far as to kneel down, picking up a piece of our attackers and giving it a thorough lookover. Seemed a little morbid to me, but I kept my opinion of that to myself. I did shudder a bit as he stared at the purple fluid that slowly dripped out of the appandage. It looked like it had been an arm at one time.

Donnie walked over curiously while I suppressed another shudder. "Wait a minute...isn't energon supposed to be green? Not purple?"

Optimus answered him with a slow nod and a quiet "Indeed."

"So why do they have this purple stuff?" Ever the inquisitive one, Donnie had scans going full speed ahead on the liquid. We watched curiously as he tried to satisfy his curiosity.

"Because I fear that a legend as old as our species may be more than just that."

Mikey looked a little confused at that. "You mean there are legends older than you? Sheesh, considering on how old you are...when did this originate? Around the time of the big bang?"

Raph looked at his little brother with annoyance. "If you don't shut up and let him talk, I'll give you a big bang."

Leo glared at both of them before he turned his attention back to the kneeling bot. "What legend?"

Before Prime could answer, Mikey decided to add his last two cents in. "Tale as old as time, Song as old as rhyme..."

"Will you shut the hell up!" Raph smacked him.

"Ow..." Mikey protested as he rubbed the back of his head. "And here I was thinking everyone loved a good Disney movie..."

"Shut up Mikey!" came from the other three turtles.

Leo sighed and rubbed his forehead a moment before turning back to Optimus, who was watching with an amused expression. "Please, continue."

Before he could, Cris came walking up, about ready to say something when she froze and stared at the liquid dripping out of the arm Prime still held, and her face went pale. "Dark energon..." She said in a deathly quiet voice.

Optimus slowly nodded his agreement. My eyes also grew wide and I almost smacked myself for not seeing it sooner.

Raph, unfortunately, didn't watch as many cartoons as we did. "Do what?"

"Dark energon... These guys run off of dark energon."

"And that means what to the rest of us?"

"It means, you idiot, that these guys run off of the dark side of energon."

"You don't have to be insulting just because I don't watch those silly cartoons."

"Well, you should. How many times have those TV shows and movies saved our asses?"

"She has a point there." Mikey agreed.

"I didn't ask you, did I?" Raph snipped back at him.

"Ok, so what exactly is this stuff?" Leo asked.

Cris rubbed the back of her head a moment. "Think of it as a bad cocktail of junk that can reanimate dead bots."

"Zombies?" Mikey asked incredulously. "It makes big robot zombies?" He looked up at Hide. "What were you saying earlier about not believing in ghosts and zombies back at base? You jinxed us!"

Hide just snorted and rolled his eyes. "Superstitious buffoon."

Mikey crossed his arms. "There is some truth behind every superstition." He stubbornly said.

"And that is what concerns me." Prime said as his eyes looked up to the heavens. "If this legend is true, what else out there awaits us?

Leo sighed. "That my freind, is an answer we may never find out until we are forced to deal with it."


	17. Chapter 17

It was a few days later when the group finally rolled into Texas. It took some time to replace some of the items lost and cart most of the serious wounded back. Kyle and Cindy were not among those deemed to unfit for the mission and once again rode in the convoy. Leo found himself wondering if his twins may have something to do with their stubborn assurances that they were able to continue. Tony had put up a large fuss, but they went largely ignored. Leo smiled a little at the memory of the argument. They would indeed fit right in with this strange family if things went that far. And right now, to Leo at least, it did seem like it was heading that way. A sigh escaped his lips at that. Two more he would have to look out for, and he couldn't keep up with the bunch had already anymore.

It was late evening when Jazz, with Donnie inside, led them to the outskirts of one of the larger cities before the whole convoy once again pulled off into a secure, sheltered area. With a lot of groans and stretching everyone dismounted and Leo walked over to his geek of a brother. "Looks like we walk from here. You have a fix on where we need to go?"

Donnie nodded calmly as he pulled up a map on his screen. "A Japanese Garden about two miles west of our current position."

By that point the others had joined the two turtles, reading their gear and weapons. "At least we can go with them this time." Raph rumbled. "Seriously doubt there is going to be much activity out there this late."

"Nor very many security measure." Dante added. "I mean, who would try to steal a garden?"

Leo nodded his agreement. "Then let's get a move on."

The terrain in itself was easy to navigate, even if it was mostly open space. The cover of darkness aided their efforts greatly as they quickly moved on.

It took them less than an hour to reach the bordering fence of the garden and just a few moments to clear it, then they were standing inside a beautifully sculpted landscape. The Japanese influence was heavy all around them as they cautiously wandered on.

"This is so pretty." Ari barely breathed as they explored.

Leo gave his niece a soft smile. "They usually are. Pretty and meant for peace and relaxation."

She grinned impishly back at him. "I'll just take the pretty for right now. Peace and relaxation seems boring."

He laughed a little before he led the way farther in. Ari now walking by his side as she looked around. "Uncle Leo?"

"Yes?"

"Is it just me or do the different areas seem to stand for different things? They each seem...different to me for some reason."

"Very good eye Ari." He complimented her with a small smile. "Each area does represent a different thing, or element actually. There are five element spirits in Japanese folklore. Earth, water, wind, fire and void. Or spirit some claim. I've even heard of it being called balance. But the four basic elements are always the same, even if the fifth is open to your own perception of it."

"How do you know this stuff?"

"I studied it Ari. I took it upon myself to educate myself on various asian folklore. It seemed appropriate to me since we incorporate a lot of fighting styles into the way we fight that I should also learn the history and myths of the lands they came from."

"Never knew there was so much attached to learning to fight."

"Only if you are willing to take the time to study it. Asian history and folklore is very versatile, and a lot of it still plays a large part in some cultures."

"Maybe I will look into it after this is all over." She said thoughtfully as she looked around again. "Never really expected something like this. But I guess I'm not really sure what I expected."

He was going to encourage her to do that, if any of them would share his love of learning about ancient cultures it would be Ari, but he was distracted when Marina started tapping rapidly on his arm. When he turned to look he could even see in the darkness that her face had gone pale before she pointed a shaking finger, to Vicky.

Vicky's brown eyes had gone wide and vacant as she stiffly walked into a section of the garden they hadn't been to yet.

"That's what happened to Cait and Marina." Cris told him in a tight voice. "She'll lead us to what we are looking for."

It was one thing to hear about what had happened, it was another to see it with his own eyes. And right now his eyes were wide as he watched her move along the walkways. But what worried him the most was that something was blocking him from reaching her. Whatever it was didn't seem to want to hurt her, but it still set his nerves on edge more than a little bit.

Donnie was walking beside him now, his scans working on overtime on her. And all that effort came up with nothing if the way Donnie was looking at Leo in disbelief was anything to go by. "Not a damn thing is there to explain what is going on. Nothing." He shook his head in utter confusion. "I have no idea what is happening."

Vicky didn't slow her pace at all as she wandered on. Leo looked around in the new section they had entered. "This portion is dedicated to water." He told the others in a thoughtful voice.

Onward she went, walking right up to the edge of a fair sized pond before she stopped and her hands came out stiffly in front of her. Leo stood next to her, watching protectively over her as they waited. His hand so much wanted to reach out and shake her from this, not liking to see her controlled by anything good or bad. Vicky was her own free person, with her own free will. For someone to just come in and suppress that really didn't sit well with him.

His attention was drawn to the water where the once calm pool was starting to grow restless. A whirlpool formed and it widened until something was laid bare by the water that had once covered it. He couldn't get a good look at it in the darkness as he stood on the shore, but that was soon to be resolved as well. A stream of water shot out of the side of the whirlpool, sliding under the object and effortlessly lifting it into the air and kept moving it until it was laid firmly in Vicky's waiting hands. Once it touched her skin the column of water dropped down into the pond as the whirlpool collapsed back into itself, leaving behind only a few waves and ripples as evidence that anything had even happened.

No one said a word as they all stared at her as she came back around, her eyes blinking before she looked in confusion at her hands and what they held. "I, uh, guess it was my turn this time..."

"It seems so." Leo quietly told her as he moved closer to see what they had found.

Vicky held a large, smooth, blue riverstone. A riverstone that surprisingly had images clearly carved in them. From what he could tell it was a picture of a waterfall. But there was more. Vicky, having seen two of these episodes firsthand already herself, already knew what to look for. Her finger pointed out the dual katanas and the mask that wrapped around them that was hidden in the general carving. "I think this one is yours Leo."

He really couldn't argue that statement as he looked back at her. She seemed perfectly fine again and in full control of her body's movements. He still understood nothing of what was going on and it was still frustrating him to no end. Leo did the only thing he could do, he tried to push those feelings away for the countless time. "Come on, it's time to go."

Vicky just nodded as she stepped away from the pond, her prize held tightly to her chest now that she had it. Leo reached out an arm to steady her on the uneven ground until she made it back to the path, and Donnie who was waiting to inspect what she held.

"Very odd. Who knows how long this rock has been sitting under the water like that, but the carvings look like they were just made yesterday. If it had been there for any given amount of time, and if it's as old as the painting and statue seem to be, the carvings should have smoothed out or maybe even worn away some by now."

"That's the only thing you find odd about it?" Raph rolled his eyes. "Not the mind controlled Vicky leading us to it, or the water lifting it up? Just the carvings?"

Donnie just shrugged back at him at a loss for words himself. Leo thought he understood what his purple masked brother was subconsciously trying to get at. Donnie was trying to explain the only thing in the whole ordeal that made sense to him, even if it didn't behave the way it was supposed to.

By the time they made it back to the fence lining the property, headlights were already closing the distance towards them. More than likely clued in to the fact that they were done because the barrier went down. As far as Leo could tell, they came down as soon as the searched for object found it's way into the pair of hands sent to get it. But since they really hadn't timed the occurrence Leo was just guessing on that theory.

Hide pulled up and opened his doors for Leo and his family and they slid into the black vehicle before the doors closed and the convoy was on the move again. Vicky set the stone on her lap and looked at it quietly as they hit the road again. "That's three down. Just need one more."

Ty leaned up from the back, his arms resting on both backrests of the seats in front of him while he tried to get a good look at the rock that was obviously meant to represent his father. "But what do we do once we get the last...whatever it is?"

"I'm strongly starting to get the feeling that the answer to that won't come to us until we do get it." Leo told his son. "Along with one that gathering them was only the first step to something more."

"Which brings us back to the more questions than answers bit." Lavi grumbled as she leaned back into her seat with her arms crossed. "I hate an unsatisfied curiosity."

Ty turned and grinned at her. "I'm sure there are some other curiosities you can satisfy...along with some hormonal urges."

That didn't go over well, if the sounds of a fight back there was an indication. It also sounded like Lavi had the upper hand by the repeated "Ow, ow, ow, I give! Ow! Stop it!..." coming from Ty.

"Do I need to resort to the hog tieing and tossing into the back of the truck again?" Leo asked his children firmly without even turning to look.

"Your younglings may be of adult size, Leonardo, but they at times still have the mentality of infants... Just like the older members of the family."

Vicky smiled at the bot. "Apple didn't fall too far from the tree after all."

"What in the name of Primus does what i just said have to do with organic foods falling from plants?"

Vicky sighed and rolled her eyes. "Nevermind Hide. My kids may have never grown up, but at least they caught on to various saying over the years. Kinda sad really, you've been here how long now? Thought a smart Bot like you would have been all caught up in human phrases by now."

The engine sputtered a bit before it calmed, but the next few hours he drove with a huffy silence as they now headed for the west coast, and the last artifact.


	18. Chapter 18

I think we were all getting a little road weary, bots and organics alike. It was one thing driving for hours, have a nice fight, then go back home. But this just seemed like a never ending drive, and tempers were starting to flare from the mundaneness of it. And the boredom level was also rising, and that's never a good thing around this bunch.

"God damn it Mikey!" Raph bellowed across the camp site at a rapidly fleeing Mikey and Ari, who were laughing. "When I get my hands on you two you won't be green anymore either!" Then Raph ran past me and I had to blink a second, not sure if I was seeing what I was seeing. Why was his shell a neon pink? And where in the hell did they have time to _get_ neon pink paint? Cris was apparently just as exasperated with it. I could tell that by the way she was shaking her head over her crossed arms.

Thane thought it was hilariously funny himself, even let out a few good chuckles...until he noticed he had a shell that matched. "ARIIIIIIII!"

The last I saw of the two laughing culprits, they high fived each other before they disappeared into the woods with Raph and Thane closing in. A few moments later we heard a pair of loud splashes and Dennis grinned while Amy was openly laughing at the scene. "Someone found the creek."

I shook my head and walked away, I didn't even want to know. Casey did though, he was actually dumb enough to go over and look, and by the way the forest erupted with yelling again, and another splash, I pretty much figured out which pair of turtles got dunked as Mikey and Ari's laughter sounded out again. More than likely Casey ended up with a bath too.

The tent I shared with Leo is where I took refuge from the ensuing chaos and I eventually just laid there on top of my sleeping bag because there really wasn't anything else to do. And I sure wasn't going to go back out there anytime soon. Not until those three calmed down anyway.

I didn't stay alone long though. "Mom?" Lavi's voice came tentatively from the other side of the flap. "Can I come in?"

"Of course hun." I sat up as she made her way inside. "Whats up?"

She didn't say anything right away, but her face took on an embarrassed tone. "I was wanting to ask you something. I suppose Dad would be the better one to ask, since he is a turtle, but it's so...weird..."

I gave her a slight smile. "Don't you mean embarrassing?"

"Both." She smiled back.

That caused a shared laugh between both of us before she grew serious again. "Mom, how...how were you able to accept Dad for what he is?"

I looked at her a long while. "You know the answer to that Lavi, it's never been about what he is, but who."

"That's not what I meant..." She took a deep breath to get her embarrassment under control. Apparently me being the one she was talking too didn't free her from it after all. She scooted over to where she was sitting next to me, then quietly tried to put her thoughts into words. "I really like Kyle."

"We noticed that."

"But I'm also scared of him."

"Scared? Why?"

"Because he's human. Mom, I'm scared that because I wear modified clothes to cover up that he may think things are...normal under there."

"They are normal hun, for you. It's part of who you are."

"But it's not for him. And I don't know how he'll react to certain features being...off. Ty has it easy really compared to me. His stuff still works the same way, it's just housed different."

"Lavi, I am not going to sit here and talk about your brother's privates." I informed her flatley. That actually made us both blush a bit.

"Sorry." She mumbled.

I shook my head. "I wonder about you two sometimes... Seriously now. Lavi, I never shied away from your father because those differences didn't bother me. They never did, because I love him."

My daughter sighed a bit as she brought her knees to her chest and dropped her head on them. "I'm just not sure how much he'll take. First these, instincts Dad calls them, and now the more obvious differences."

"Lavi, do you think he's that shallow?"

"Well, no."

"Does he make you feel uncomfortable for being you?"

"No."

"Then what makes you think that what's under the clothes should make any difference to him? He knows you're different, he accepts it. Don't pull a me now and go ruining something because you think too much into it. When it does come time to go under the clothes, I'm sure you'll be surprised by how tolerant he actually is. And I'm sure a few soft, guiding words from you on what to look for would be appreciated. Just do me a favor turtle dove."

"What?"

"Don't tell your father you plan on getting intimate with Kyle. Not just yet anyway. I had a hard enough time beating him with a stick to keep him from chewing Kyle's leg off."

Lavi laughed as she reached over and gave me a hug. "Thanks Mom. This wasn't nearly as embarrassing as the talk I had with Dad."

"I know hun. But your Dad did have a point in doing what he did. I was totally unprepared for the first time he lost control with me, and I couldn't walk the rest of the day."

"Mo- _om_! Come on! Did I really need to hear that! You have no idea of the images I have in my head now!"

I couldn't help it, I laughed as I hugged her again. "Oh Lavi, I do love you. You come in here to obviously talk with me about you being scared of how Kyle will see you with your clothes off, but when I bring something up..."

"It's not the same and you know it!"

I laughed harder. "It will be fine Lavi." I kissed her forehead. "If he cares about you, you have nothing to worry about."

The tent flap opened just then and Leo came in, his eyeridge raised. " _That_ was a very interesting conversation." He looked at me. "So, should I chew the left leg off, or his right one?"

"Leo! Do you have to do that shit?"

"How many times are you two going to ask me that before it sinks in to your heads that the answer will always be yes?"

Lavi and I both threw a pillow at him.

"I guess I deserved that." He said with a smile as he caught them on the way to the ground.

"Yes, you did." My eyebrow came up at him. "She is twenty. You can't keep treating her like a little baby."

"No, but I can try, because she'll always be my little baby."

In spite of herself, Lavi laughed as she got back up. She even stopped to give the nosy bastard a hug on the way out. "I love you Daddy."

"I know. I love you too." He added a kiss to the top of her head with his reply and she slipped out again.

He looked a long while at the tent flap, and I could tell his feet were itching to follow her. "Oh no you don't." I firmly told him, getting up and placing myself between him and the exit.

"What? I wasn't going to follow her."

"Damn right you're not." I crossed my arms.

That eyeridge came up again as he looked from the flap to me. "Oh? And how exactly do you intend to keep me from doing that?"

I gave him a sly smile as I reached out and grabbed his harness and pulled him down to my lips for a long kiss. "I have my ways." Then I kissed him again, my arms wrapping around his neck. He didn't follow her, he was too busy after that.

.

.

Ty was battling with a completely different set of nerves as he sat next to Cindy by one of the few campfires spread out around their camp. One hand was poking the fire with a stick and the other was firmly wrapped into hers. His mind however was wandering.

"Ty?" Came her voice as her head shifted from where it was leaning against his shoulder to look up at him.

"Hmm?" He replied absently, still pestering the fire.

"Are you trying to think a hole through your head? You've been quiet all evening."

He sighed as he tossed his stick into the fire. "Sorry. Just getting used to things still I guess." He smiled down at her, his eyes lost in her green ones. They were still just as pretty to him as when he first saw them. "Not used to having a girlfriend."

She raised a teasing brow at him. "When was that decided?"

"The moment the first time I did this." He turned to face her fully and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Get a room you two!" Thane grumbled as he walked by.

Ty looked at his cousin with a grin. "What's the matter? Still to chicken shit to go talk to the blonde who caught your eye?"

Thane froze and turned to glare at him. "Her name is Jessica, and no I'm not a chicken shit. It's not time yet."

"Uh huh."

"I'm not!"

"Whatever you say Thane."

He got glared at a moment longer before Thane went grumbling on his way.

Cindy was laughing against his shoulder. "You are so mean to him."

Ty snorted. "He starts it half the time."

"And the other half?"

"Someone else does." Ty grinned impishly at her.

She laughed. "You are impossible."

"I try." He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against his side. Her arms wrapped around his waist and they both just stared into the fire for awhile.

"You never did really answer my question." She said after a few moments. "What's on your mind."

"Just thinking of all the changes going on I guess." He rested his chin on top of her head as he wrapped his other arm around her. Cindy always felt so small in his arms, so vulnerable. He very well knew she was capable, and not exactly tiny since she was easily as tall as his mother. But to him she was something very fragile and breakable. He wondered if Father felt this way when he held Mother. "You exploded into my life like a little comet, and it's got me wondering about things."

"Like what?" Her smooth voice vibrated across his chest and into his heart.

"What things would be like when everything calms back down again. Where we would be."

"Ty, we've only been together a few days, and met only a few weeks ago. We're just getting started. Give it some time and things will fall into place if it's meant to be."

He held her a bit tighter. "I already know it's meant to be."

She looked up at him, with an amused half smile on her face. "And what makes you so sure of that?"

"It runs in the family, so there."

"Can't argue with that logic I suppose."

"Good, because I'm not ready for our first argument yet." He smiled at her.

Will came out of the communications tent then catching everyone's attention along with a few vehicles approaching. "Heads up! Got the replacements coming in for the guys we had to send back. Let's get them unloaded and settled in for the night."

Cindy sighed as she stood up and brushed her pants off. "I suppose it's time to go back to work."

Ty, not really wanting to sit there by himself got up and joined her and her comrades as the vehicles pulled to a stop and everyone began to unload. He didn't know these as well as the ones he had been traveling with, but he did know that they were from the base they had departed from. He also noticed one was giving them a hard stare as Ty helped Cindy carry some gear across the camp. "What's his problem?" Ty muttered under his breath.

Cindy rolled her eyes when she noticed who Ty was talking about. "One of the good things about the way you were raised is that you don't have to deal with exes. That is Jeff, and he was real unhappy with me when I called our fling off a few months ago. Think he still is honestly."

"One of those huh..."

"Oh yeah. He likes to keep trying to convince me that I made a mistake and to go back to him. Epps even had to step in and dress him down for it a couple of times."

Ty didn't say anything else on the matter, but he made his opinion very much known as he stood near Cindy. His facial expression was all that was needed to convey the message as he now stared back just as hard. She didn't catch it as she was storing things away, but Ty was making it very clear to Jeff to back off. If the man was smart, he would. If he wasn't Ty was going to rectify the situation himself.


	19. Chapter 19

The next day the sun shone bright on the vehicles that rolled tirelessly on. Fresh looking paint jobs glittered in the light as the tires drummed across the pavement. The large red and blue semi in the lead with a long trail of vehicles from every shape and size behind him. The colors just as varied as the personalities that owned them. Scattered strategically in between those normal seeming vehicles were the dune buggy style vehicles NEST seemed to prefer. Each driver, passenger and gunner alert to their surroundings. Not only on the lookout for potential attacks, but also to make sure they didn't collide when one of the vehicles did something spontaneous, like racing. Only thing missing was Michael Bay blowing some shit up and it would have been a perfect movie scene.

Inside the vehicles it was much less dramatic looking. Boring even. It was just Leo and I cruising along in Hide's cab this time, he was reading a book and I was leaned back in the seat, just idly watching the scenery pass by. Ty and Lavi, as well as the rest of the children, had formed bonds with some of the soldiers and wanted to ride with their new friends. Will and Epps agreed it was fine so they were now sprinkled among the NEST vehicles. When the twins rode with us, they got on my nerves. Now that it was quiet, I was bored. Go figure.

"I can sit in the backseat and drum on your seat if you want." Leo told me as he calmly turned the page.

"I'll pass thank you." I replied, not moving my eyes from the window. "I'll take the quiet time, even if it does mean I'll be bored. Some music would be nice though I guess."

Now he did look at me. "Not that crap Lavi listens to I hope. I've had about enough of those ear busters."

I chuckled. "No Leo, had something else entirely in mind. More in a epic relaxing mood really."

His eye ridge shot up. "Epic relaxing? What does that even mean?"

Before I could even answer, Hide turned the radio on and I looked in shock at the console as the songs I was thinking of listening to began to play. The familiar songs made by Audiomachine, Future World Music, Two Steps From Hell and various others began to sooth my ears. The dramatic tones of the instrumental songs fit perfectly with my mood. "Hide...did you find my Youtube playlist?"

"Indeed I have. Interesting song selections."

"I'm in an interesting mood." I closed my eyes with my head back against the head rest, my mind lost in another world, one of my own imagination. For some reason I felt the strong urge of wanting the wind on my face and I rolled down the window. Eyes closed I sat there, enjoying my music and the rushing air on my face. And getting quietly laughed at by Leo. I didn't care.

I drew further into myself, letting my imagination soar with the music and wind. Flying, yes, I was definitely flying with this music. Soaring high over low forest covered mountains, streams and rivers glittering under me in the valleys as the larger snow covered peaks passed me by. I was calm, content with everything as I drifted over the serene scene below me, lost in wonder at the beauty of Mother Nature.

Birds were flying effortlessly nearby, not in the least disturbed by my presence as I drifted on. So high up I couldn't even make out my shadow as it chased me as I flew in the bright sunlight. I was even delighted to see an eagle fly over me, it's piercing cry echoing across the skies as it joined me on my journey.

Soon I felt the familiar presence of my sister turtle wives near me. Cris, even with her fear of heights, took in everything just as wonderstruck as I was. Even cool, calm Marina was stunned into silence by the simplicity of the magnificence we saw all around us. Caitlin's eyes were full of tears as she gazed over the pristine landscape that had so far been untouched by mankind's destructive hands.

What was holding us so effortlessly in the air, I couldn't tell you. That was the one thing in my vision I couldn't make out as I lost myself deeper in this paradise I had made. This, in my eyes at least, was perfection. Not even a single cloud marked the blue sky as we glided on. Nothing could ruin this, or so I thought.

A ball of fire marred the perfect blue canvas, slowly growing larger as it left a trail of smoke behind it. Then it wasn't one, but multiple and they crashed down into the forest that had moved Caitlin to tears just a short time before, destroying acres as ball after ball hit. Destruction was now below me, and more of it came from above and too late I noticed one heading for me, growing brighter and hotter as I stared at it in fear filled shock. Everything was being ripped apart around me, and I was about to join the devastation even as I raised my arms in a futile effort to shield my face.

 _He comes. Prepare yourselves. Show them the way._

"Vicky!" Leo snapped as I was roughly shaken in his attempt to wake me. But it wasn't his efforts that snapped me back into the real world. A world in which I noticed that my whole body was shaking. I also vaguely noticed that the whole convoy had pulled over as I tried to make sense of what just happened.

I looked blankly from the window I had still been facing and turned my wide eyed, uncomprehending gaze to Leo who had crawled over the center console and was now hovering over me, his eyes filled with worry. It finally dawned on me that what I had seen wasn't real and that it didn't happen and when I did finally figure that out, I cried. It had felt so real to me that for a moment I honestly thought I had died, and that scared me to no end.

The first tear hadn't even formed when I felt those secure arms wrap around me, comforting me as I tried to understand what in the world just happened.

"Vicky, what's wrong?" His eyes searched my face as he tried to see, but couldn't because something was keeping him from seeing it. I could literally feel it as that wall held firm, but gentle between him and the vision I had. That scared me even more because I wanted to tell him, but found that I couldn't. I did the only thing I could do, I held onto him for some kind of support.

It had me so preoccupied that I missed Casey running over to us from Jazz until he appeared right outside my still open window. "Marina is freaking out up there." He told Leo when he came to a stop.

"Vicky isn't much better. Go check on Cait and Cris. If they are as shook up as well, we may need to call an early halt for the day."

Casey nodded and took off towards Sides who was a few bots behind us.

I sniffed and wiped my eyes as I tried to focus in on him. "W-what's wrong with them?"

Leo turned his full attention back to me. "The same thing that happened to you dear one. One moment you were all fine, the next you were shaking and screaming. I could hear them over the comm as we started getting calls from the bots they were riding in, and they could hear you."

"The noise was grating." Hide so cheerfully added. "Never before had I heard such a racket from you. Not even when you two-"

"Not the time to be bringing that memory up Hide." Leo cut him off with a glare.

"Well, then you shouldn't have been fragging when she had a connection with me."

"Will you stop it already?"

Hide huffed, then said in a gentler tone. "Are you alright?"

I nodded then laid my head on Leo's chest, my mind totally numb now. There was no possible way this could have happened, but yet it did and I instinctively knew they had had the exact same vision.

"I'm not so sure about that." Leo murmured quietly as he held me. "You're still shaking."

"Shall I turn the music of? Could it be that was what caused this?"

"I don't think so Hide." Leo answered him. "To be honest, we've had a similar experience. And there was no music playing at the time. I have a feeling it's something much bigger than that. Leave it on for her, it does sooth her normally."

"Very well."

Casey popped back in the window. "They are a bit shook up, but seem fine overall now that they are calming down. General consensus is they want to keep going."

"And you dear one?"

"Same. No point in stopping for something we can't do anything about."

"Alright. Go load back up Casey so we can get on the road again."

"Right." Casey turned and made his way back to Jazz as Hide fired up his engine again.

Leo shifted us around in the passenger seat until he had me firmly entrenched in his lap with his arms still around me. I really didn't complain too much about it, because I just stared at my hand that wouldn't stop shaking.

"Don't worry about it." He told me as his hand wrapped around mine and pulled it down out of my line of sight. "You'll just get yourself worked up over it again."

"Jolt wants to do a full scan on them when we stop for our rest period." Hide broke in over the music that was once again playing.

"I doubt he'll find anything on them Hide, but he's free to do so if they agree. All of these occurrences seem to be untraceable."

"I told the stubborn glitch that, but he insists. I believe he's been under the influence of Ratchet too long. He's starting to sound like him. I'm almost willing to bet that he has a wrench or two stored in subspace somewhere."

For some reason that made me laugh. Not much, but a little chuckle escaped my lips. I had this picture of Ratchet and Jolt stuck in my head, both in med bay with wrenches in their hands and squared off like fencers.

"You're already starting to feel better if you are thinking of crap like that." Leo chuckled.

He was right, I was already starting to shake it off. Between the music, being close to him and the steady rumble of Hide's engine, which was also strangely soothing, I was already calming down. My hands quit shaking as I leaned against my husband, taking in the calming tunes coming from the speakers.

I wasn't in that weird mood I was in earlier, but the music still did wonders. But the thing that stuck with me the most as I listened to it, was that I still had that odd sensation of flying, and I couldn't shake that to save my life. That peaceful flight I was enjoying before all hell broke loose. Peaceful, calm, serene. Out of everything that was working on settling my nerves, for some reason that feeling had the biggest effect, and I didn't know why. It was so effective that by the time an hour had passed I was calm enough to the point I was actually drowsing in Leo's arms.


	20. Chapter 20

Ari sat down with a sigh on the log she had placed in front of the fire. It had been an interesting day to say the least. She undid her pink mask, laid it across her leg and began to unbraid her long, blonde hair with the intent to brush it out. It was nice riding with her new friends in their vehicle, but she had to admit the helmet she had to wear to keep her face hidden from others on the road wasn't a very pleasant thing to wear for long periods. And even with her hair braided the way she usually kept it, it still got tangled all to hell somehow.

Emily, a slender elf of a girl with a head of light brown hair and big, doelike brown eyes, walked over with a laugh and took her brush from her. "You look like you stuck your finger into a light socket." was the wonderful compliment given to the youngest turtle.

Ari laughed with her, not offended at all. "As long as I just look the part. Not sure I want to actually do that."

Emily grinned back at her and moved behind her and began to brush out the tangles in Ari's soft locks of sunshine, as her Father calls them. Ari had met this small, kind and a bit shy woman back on base already and they quickly began to form a friendship that could rival Uncle Raph and Casey's.

She was one of the few that was under Tony's command because her training wasn't in dealing damage, but fixing it. And from what Ari could tell from the attack the other night, she was exceptionally skilled at it. She was only a year older than the eighteen year old Ari, but Tony had insisted that she come along on this roadtrip. That alone said a lot about her skill, but she, along with a very rare few others, had been drafted right out of training, some even during it, to join this unique force that had been put together to face big bad robots. Aunt Vicky said that that was pretty much unheard of when she was in, so for NEST to pull them that soon and finish their training at various NEST bases, they had to be more than worth their salt.

But the cheerful Emily never let that get to her head. She was a very grounded person and easily extended her hand in friendship to the younger turtles after their arrival. But she was also a woman, and women loved to gossip.

"Jessica found a flower in her sleeping bag earlier when she unrolled it." Emily told Ari with a grin.

Ari giggled. "No way..."

"Oh yes, a red rose in a glass tube."

"Seems like grumpy butt is finally making his move huh..."

This time the girly giggle came from Emily. "Wasn't expecting that from your cousin, since he seems so much like his father."

"Don't kid yourself. Uncle Raph has a very deep soft spot in him, you just have to use a sledge hammer and explosives to find it. Thane is pretty much the same way. He'll bite his tongue off before admitting openly that he cares for something, or someone."

Emily snorted. "So what is Jess? The hammer or the explosives?"

"I'll let Thane figure that one out."

Ari knew something in Emily's mood had changed by the sudden jerk of the brush in her hair. She turned curiously to see what was bothering the normally so careful young woman, and found her trying really hard to be inconspicuous as two more individuals walked nearby heading for one of the tents, deep in discussion and not seeing the looks the two girls were giving them. One of them was Dante, her tall yellow masked cousin, and the other made Ari try to make herself just as invisible. Adam was with him, another one of the group that had fist introduced themselves to the turtle teens that first time, and one Ari had a hard time accepting as just a friend.

When they moved out of sight Ari sighed quietly and gave Emily a teasing smile. "Why don't you go talk to him? Dante is nothing like Thane, he won't brush you off."

Emily's face went red from embarrassment as she vehemently shook her shy head. Not able to bring herself to speak on the subject, she instead started on Ari's hair again. Ari really didn't blame her, she got all tongue tied whenever Adam was near which was very unusual for Mikey's usually loud mouthed and opinionated daughter.

Ari lost herself in the flickering of the flames in front of her as Emily pulled the last few tangles out. "I think I'll french braid it." Then began the process before Ari could even agree to it.

"I think it looks good down myself." Both girls, who had been lost in thought, jumped with the sound of Adam's voice as he walked up with Dante. Ari found her throat going dry as she looked into the smooth, chiseled face that was found under his dark brown crew cut. His hazel eyes seemed to sparkle with amusement as he watched their reaction. Great, now he was laughing at her.

Dante as also trying to hide a smile as his eyes wandered over them. "Wouldn't be very ninja like. It's hard to sneak around and get into trouble when you have that mop blowing in your face all the time."

Ari stuck her tongue out at her cousin and he just laughed it off.

"So these things are supposed to be ninjas huh." A harsh voice coming from a very unhappy looking, and uptight, blonde man asked from where he was watching nearby. "I find that hard to believe."

Adam's eyes flared a moment before he turned his attention to the man. "Jeff, keep talking like that and see where it's going to get you."

"I just don't see what the big deal is with these freaks."

"They're not freaks." Adam crossed his arms. "You're just jealous and being pig headed because Cindy is with Titian, and not with you. And to be honest, I'm glad she is. You treated her like shit and now she's with someone who is way better for her than you are, and you can't accept it."

"Fuck you Adam!" Jeff snapped and walked off. "I'll get her back. You just wait and see, she'll come crawling back to me."

Adam shook his head as Jeff left. "Ignorant idiot. He's just asking to get his ass whooped."

Dante raised his eyeridge as he also watched him leave. "He does seem to have some issues."

"He could write a book on issues. The only reason he's been kept around so far is because he's, surprisingly, a good fighter. But I'm not sure how much more Epps is going to take of his shit though."

"Should I say something to Ty to warn him maybe?"

"Not really. As big of a show Jeff put on just now, not even he's dumb enough to go against any of you. He knows the reputation your dads have just as well as the rest of us. He'd never openly try anything, and I seriously doubt he could get a cheap shot in. He's just blowing hot air is all."

"As long as he doesn't blow it out his ass." Ari muttered as Emily kept twisting her hair. "He might shoot himself off into space with it."

Adam grinned at her, then laughed. "You say the weirdest shit sometimes."

Dante rolled his eyes. "So does her Dad."

Ari just shrugged. "Nobody's perfect."

"I like it." Adam chuckled. "It's refreshing. Lord knows this boring troop needs a few more like them two to lighten the mood."

"With bots like Hide and Ratchet around?" Emily broke her silence. "They wouldn't survive long enough to crack the second joke!" Then she made the mistake of looking at Dante which caused her to blush and retreat back into her quiet mode again. There was the sound of a slight snap behind Ari then as Emily tried to tie the end off. "Crap." Came the barely audible mutter.

"What?" Dante inquired as he moved closer.

"N-nothing..." the poor girl stuttered as he did "I-I j-just broke her hair tie..."

"No big deal." Dante reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a rubber band. "This will hold it until she can get one from her Mom, or mine." He reached out and handed it to her, and Ari noticed their hands touched a bit longer than they needed to before Emily snatched hers back.

"T-thank you." She told him in a voice barely above a whisper. Her hands were shaking so hard that it jiggled the long braid enough to where Ari felt it.

"You're welcome." Then he raised an eyridge as she forcefully focused completely on the task in front of her, refusing to look at him. "Emily, we've known each other a few weeks now, how much longer are you going to try and hide the fact that you like me?"

Ari facepalmed as the woman behind her froze solid, her face a red flaming mess as her eyes widened. "Oh, real subtle there Dante."

Adam crossed his arms as he looked at her. "I was going to ask you the same thing, motormouth."

Her own eyes widened after he said that and now Emily wasn't the only one wanting to go hide in a very deep pit somewhere. Maybe if she started digging one now it would be deep enough for her to hide in...in about fifty years.

"Sounds like they got you two cornered." Ari's father chuckled as he walked over. "Was starting to wonder who was going to make the first move."

"You knew? Why didn't you tell me you knew?"

He just grinned at his now very flustered daughter. "Because watching this was fun."

Adam was also looking at Michelangelo with wide, nervous, eyes, obviously remembering what had been done to Kyle when he had made his intentions known. The orange masked turtle just waved his fear off. "Relax. I'm not Leo. I won't stand behind you with a damn sword ready to shove up your ass." He grinned. "I'll use my 'chucks instead."

Ari groaned as she dropped her face into her palm, now she knew how Lavi felt.

'Ari, you really should have at least introduced us properly by now. If you are going to hang out with them, and be all moony eyed over one, I'd like to get to know them too."

"Daddy, this is exactly _why_ I didn't do that."

"You're lack of faith in me wounds me greatly." The big cheesy grin he had plastered on his face straight up told her that was a bold faced lie.

Adam had by that point regained his composure and even offered his gloved hand. "Name's Adam, nice to meet you, I like your daughter." Ari groaned.

The offered hand was taken and the shake firmly returned before those blue eyes widened. He turned his grip loose with a startled squeak and something went flying into the air as he snatched his hand back to his side. "What in the name of blue bologna was that?"

Adam grinned as the object, a mouse, scurried away to hide in the underbrush.

That had them all laughing, even Emily. She was the one laughing the hardest as she held her sides. Ari was crying she was laughing so hard.

The elder turtle however eyeballed the now widely grinning Adam through narrowed eyes. "Well played Adam. You might make a decent challenge." He turned and walked away, muttering under his breath.

"Now you went and done it." Dante told his friend.

Adam's grin widened. "I know enough about him to know it was going to happen eventually. I wanted to get the first strike in before he did."

"Yeah, but you just started a prank war."

Adam shrugged. "Oh well."


	21. Chapter 21

It was just Cris and I this time. Due to the simple process of elimination, we reasoned that she was the only one needed, and I refused to let anyone else escort her. Over the years I took on my own role over the humans in our family. One that was half forced on me and half done out of love.

If you really stopped and thought about it a moment, we were actually three teams. Leo led his brothers, Ty led the teens, and I led the humans. We all just automatically deferred to Leo when we were all together. I've led them countless times into situations and I've become their Leo, just as Cris was my Raph. So when it was decided that we all knew Cris was going in, I didn't even hesitate to firmly state that I was going to be the one to go with her. And since we didn't need all of us to split up and look, the rest of the human part of my family stayed back. The older turtle part still stubbornly refused and once again followed us to the edge of town. This time they even went farther than that, much to my frustration, and rooftop hopped until they were seated firmly above us on the rooftop. Leo's argument was since there was a smaller crew going in, there was a bigger potential for trouble. My logic was he worried too much and that cockamanie excuse was proof of it.

I pushed that all away as we entered the, hopefully, last museum we would have to daytime burglarize shortly after they opened. The only thing I should be worried about at that moment was getting in, find this last piece and get the hell back out. The place being almost empty at the moment because of the early hour should, hopefully again, make that easier to pull off.

This last museum was situated in northern California, and this particular one at the moment had a display of artifacts from around the world made of lava rocks. That already was a big major clue that this was the right place. You just sit there a minute and think on it. I'm sure it'll come to you on why. Here's a hint, it has nothing to do with the state sitting in the ring of fire that encircles the Pacific Ocean and everything to do with the last turtle.

"You ever drag me into another museum after this Vic, I'm going to punch you. In the face. Very hard."

I just smiled at her. "You're just scared."

"I am not!" She flared in typical Raph wife flare.

"Oh, come off it. It's your turn, and it's creeping you out."

I got glared at, but she didn't deny it. She did mumble some things under her breath that I suppose I shouldn't repeat.

We spent a short bit wandering around on the first floor, not really looking too hard at anything as we meandered along. Again, from prior experiences, we've learned there was no point in wasting time looking at each individual piece, because once we got close enough, something else would show us the way.

Which is exactly what happened once we reached the second floor that was dedicated to the Asian carvings. As soon as we hit that last step, Cris' eyes glazed over and she began that remote controlled shuffle across the floor before stopping in that now familiar pose in front of an obsidian wide bladed dagger. The thing reminded me of one of Dante's butterfly swords, but smaller. The reason for the wide blade? You guessed it. To be a canvas for the red carvings found on it. Carvings that clearly represented flames as they twisted around the blade from hilt to the tip. Carvings that almost hid the crossed sai as the red mask flared in between them.

I suppose I should have been used to all this weirdness by now, but I still jumped about three feet in the air when a small whirlwind of fire formed out of nothing under that blade and carried it to Cris' waiting hands. A fire that didn't scorch the pedestal it had been resting on, a fire that didn't burn Cris' hands, a fire that blinked out just as rapidly as it formed. A fire that was giving me another headache just thinking of everything that was going on.

Cris' eyes cleared and she looked down into her palms, then at me. "That was just plain creepy." She tucked the dagger into the waistline of her pants and covered it with her shirt.

"Tell me about it." I muttered back as I got her feet moving with a shove to the stairs.

We were just passing a window when I heard something that made me facepalm. "Psst...this way!" came at me in a not so very quiet whisper.

I turned to that window to see Mikey there, dangling from a rope, on the side of the building, in the middle of a decent sized city, in plain sight, in broad daylight. "What in the hell are you doing?!"

"Giving you a quicker way out. Come on, Leo's about to skin me out of my shell."

" _I'm_ about to skin you out of your shell!" I was pissed, but we did scurry to the window and up the rope.

A hand reached down to me when I got to the top and I took the offered help and Raph easily hoisted me up, then pulled Cris up behind me. "You ok?" He demanded as soon as her feet hit the rooftop.

"A bit creeped out, but I'm fine." she waved his concern off. "Nothing happened to me, just like nothing happened to the others."

He just harumpft at that, then added. "But they ain't _my_ wife."

Leo came stomping over, glaring at his little brother as he climbed over the parapet. "Mikey, when I said I wish they would hurry up so we can get out of here, I didn't mean for you to go _get_ them..."

"Ah, but you didn't tell me not too."

"You didn't give me a chance!"

"I know...worked out pretty good."

A loud smack echoed over the rooftop...and Raph didn't do it that time.

Leo stomped back off again, grumbling under his breath as he moved towards the backside of the building.

"Ow..." Mikey muttered as he rubbed his head.

I shook my head. "One of these days Mikey, one of those smacks is going to knock some sense into you."

Cris snorted. "The day that happens the world is going to end."

"Let's go!" Leo called from where he had stopped and was peering intently over the side of the building. "The others are already on the way to pick us up."

I had to admit, I felt a little let down as we loaded up and rolled back out. After all of that, the anticlimactic ending to our treasure hunt seemed like a huge let down. Not sure what I was expecting, but a simple grab and go really hadn't been it. There was still a question floating around in our heads too and I suppose that may have put a damper on my enthusiasm. We had these silly things...now what do we do with them? Nothing gave us the slightest hint on what to do from here.

I think that lingering question may have had something to do with Optimus leading us off of the main roads and into another secluded spot where we all pulled in around him. Everyone gathered in the middle of that large ring of Will's vehicles, the bots having all gone bot by that point, and everyone was looking at us with the same expression. One that asked "now what?"

Donnie did his routine, and useless, lookover of the dagger we snitched and came up with the same unhelpful answer of "I can't find anything unusual about it."

Will was another one who was confused when he joined us, shaking his head before looking at me. "You remember when you asked me to look into reimbursing everyone for snatching those items?"

"Yes."

"I can't." He said with a wry smile.

"You can't? Why not?"

"Because for some reason...those items aren't even being missed, even the one we got today. Not one museum ever remembered, or has documented, those items ever being there."

"You said what." Raph asked him in a flat tone.

"We spent all this time sneaking and snatching...and no one is even claiming to have had them." Will shrugged. "So, as far as your conscience goes...you're off the hook."

Leo sighed in frustration. "Another question instead of an answer."

Caitlin walked over to us then, her eyes tired and her face pale. "Guys...can we stop early today? Maybe take the time to plan our next move?"

Leo was about to snap at her about the waste of time, until he got a good look at her, then his eyes filled with concern. "I'm sure we can. Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm just...tired Leo. Maybe everything is getting to me and a longer break would do some good."

Now that she mentioned it, I was feeling a bit rough myself. "I'm actually leaning towards the idea myself." I admitted.

His eyes then focused on me, and the concern really didn't diminish. "You seemed fine just a short while ago."

"But we aren't now." Marina piped in, her face just as drawn and pale. A quick look at Cris told everyone that she was feeling down herself, even if she wouldn't admit it.

"Leonardo, it will not be that much of a burden to rest now if they require it." Prime said, his blue eyes studying us intently.

Leo nodded his agreement and with a few sharp orders from Epps the tents were being pitched. Once the decision had been made I found myself rapidly struggling to stay awake. They guys watched, worried, as Donnie scanned us, and again couldn't find anything wrong. But we all knew something was, because by the time Ty and Lavi had finished putting my tent up, Leo had to carry me inside because I was already falling asleep. And I was out before he even tucked me inside my sleeping bag.

.

.

She hadn't moved. Ever since this strange lethargy took a hold of her she just laid still on her cot as she rested. The only sign that she was even alive was her slow and steady breathing. She was a person who was often restless in her sleep, always had been, and for her to lay so still unnerved Leo more than a little. He had tried numerous times to get inside her head to try and find out what was causing this strange episode and kept finding himself blocked. Leo decided when whatever was doing this finally revealed itself, he was going to have some very firm words ready for them.

The others slept just as deeply from the reports that the teens gave him when they came by, frequently, to check on her. Ari had been the last one and she had left again just as the sun was sliding under the horizon. It was when the last bits of light faded that April came in.

"Still sleeping I see."

Leo nodded with a sigh. "I wish that what ever is doing this would-" he cut himself off as Vicky's eyes opened and his panic level rapidly rose.

Her eyes were glowing. Glowing a soft blue light as she woodenly sat up and removed herself from the sleeping bag.

"Vicky?" He moved closer to her. "Dear one?"

She didn't seem to hear as she stiffly got to her feet and went over to where her things were carefully stored. After moving a few items out of the way, the riverrock found itself in her hands. She stood back up and walked outside, with a stunned Leo and April following her.

It only took Leo a instant to figure out that she wasn't the only one affected. Caitlin was already out there, her eyes glowing orange and a very worried Mikey hovering next to her. Cris and Marina were already on the way by the time Vicky joined Caitlin. Their eyes glowing red and purple.

Mikey looked to his older brother, the sheer fright clearly written on his face for his wife. "Leo...what's...what's going on?"

"I don't know Mikey... I don't know..."

That was as far as the discussion got, because by the time Raph and Donnie joined them, along with quite a few onlookers, the object each woman had been sent to get was being raised in front of them and they too began to glow. To everyone's amazement the carvings themselves seemed to lift off of the objects, now nothing more than sheer patterns of light as they floated across the air, shifting and moving around each other until each light stopped in it's correct placement with the others. Individually, it just seemed like random carvings but once they were all put together, Leo was staring in open mouthed shock at what he was seeing.

Donnie also caught on. "It's a map...the four items held a friggin map..." He quickly moved to take a picture of it, and when he did the lights flashed back to the items they came from and they began to glow, very bright to the point eyes had to be turned away. When those lights dimmed, the items they had was not what was there now. In the palm of each woman was a gemstone. Vicky held a blue sapphire, Cris a red ruby, Marina a purple amethyst and Caitlin an orange topaz.

And another form took shape in front of the turtles themselves, and that had hands reaching for weapons as they glared at the apparition that was very faint and hard to make out. No matter how hard Leo tried, he could not identify the thing in front of him.

Then that same quiet voice from their dreams and visions echoed in all of their heads. _'Do not fear, the intention is not to harm them. It never was. Each of you take the gems your companion holds for it is their burden no longer. They are the keys that will aid you in what is to come, but you must find me to unlock their secrets. Come to me, and all shall be explained.'_

"How do we know this isn't a trap!" Raph snapped.

 _'If it is, then everything we hold dear will be lost. Look inside yourself, you know I speak true.'_

They looked at each other, the doubt clearly on their faces.

 _'If my words alone will not convince you, maybe the ones of someone you trust would bear more weight.'_

Another glowing figure took shape then, one they knew very well. He was more solid as the first apparition and the turtles could clearly make out his smaller body, the quick tail that he had used so many times to get the upper hand on them, the long, narrow muzzle that sat under warm eyes that looked at them proudly, and with love.

Leo found he couldn't speak past the sudden lump that found itself in his throat as he looked at the master who had raised them, trained them and loved them like a father.

 _'My sons, this task is indeed needed of you. The words spoken here are true. Take the gems from my daughters and hold them close to you and follow the path that has been laid out. It is necessary, or I would not have agreed to play my part in it.'_

All doubt washed away at those simple words. And four voices struggled to get the next set of words out past emotion choked blocks. "We will Father." They agreed in chorus.

Without any more hesitation they walked over to their wives who still stood enthralled in whatever was holding them, and gently took the gems they held. As soon as they did, their eyes quit glowing and each one fell forward into the arms of her husband, not even waking up from the slumber that held them until they were firmly in secure arms.

Vicky's eyes blinked open, confused and a little scared as Leo held her close to him. "What...happened this time?"

He just held her close as he looked back to where the apparitions were, only to find them both gone. "We got our marching orders." Leo told her as he helped steady her.

"We did?" she rubbed her eyes. "Where are we going now?"

Donnie had pulled up the picture he took and was looking at it intently as his arm wrapped firmly around Marina's shoulders. "By the looks of it...Japan."

Epps grinned at that. "And I got just the ride. Everyone, try and get some rest. Got something pretty awesome in store for you, he should be here by tomorrow."

Mikey looked at him curiously. "Oh? Who is that?"

Epps winked at him. "You'll see."


	22. Chapter 22

"You ok?"

The question came from Kyle, who was walking up to Lavi not much later as she still stood in disbelief at what she saw. "I...don't know Kyle. I've never had to deal with anything like this before."

"Noticing a lot of things are popping up you never had to deal with before." He calmly told her before pulling her against his chest and wrapping his arms around her waist. "If it makes you feel any better, your folks look like they are about to jump out of their skin too."

"Not really," she smiled up at him "because it's usually their calm adjustment to everything that keeps me from freaking out."

"Well, I guess you all get to learn to deal with it together."

"Best way to learn anything I suppose."

He arched a brow at her with an amused look on his face. "I wouldn't say _any_ thing. Some things are more fun to learn on your own."

"Are they now? Like what?"

"This, for one." And his head came down in a gentle kiss.

She was a little shocked, considering they hadn't...tried again since the last episode, but she welcomed it. She had been a little scared of herself honestly, and when the low growl began to climb back up out of her chest it almost made her want to run and hide again. She obviously still didn't have very much control over herself. Kyle had other ideas. His arms tightened around her as he kissed her more firmly. Another growl sounded and she pushed her body against his.

Lavi was torn now by the desire to slam him on the ground and dominate him, and fear, wanting to just run and hide somewhere. Her conflicting emotions fighting each other in her head until her body began to shake from the effort of trying to sort through it.

Kyle pulled his lips away, but still held her close, resting his cheek against hers. "Easy pretty girl." He told her softly. "Don't let it scare you. It doesn't scare me."

He had no idea how much those simple words eased her turmoiled mind. Lavi's body calmed as she laid her head on his shoulder. After a few deep breaths her trembling subsided and she relaxed in his arms.

"See? Not that bad is it?"

"Fucking freaks..." An angry voice grumbled near by. "How can any decent human being be caught with one of them, I don't understand."

Lavi's eyes flashed as her head snapped back up and a whole nother set of instincts came into play as she reached for her tonfas. Kyle just placed his hands over hers as he turned to the sound of the newcomer, then grinned at him. "Go jump on a smelter Jeff." Kyle told him in a pleasant voice. "Because that may be a safer place for you to be right now." Then his eyes turned hard and cold to the man Lavi wanted to pummel. "I meant it. Get the fuck out of here before I whoop your ass, then let her finish you off."

Jeff snorted. "Please, you never could take me."

" _That_ was _before_ he started training with me." Ty calmly said as he walked up, with Cindy's hand in his. "At our Father's insistence. But if you don't believe it, I'll be more than happy to educate you on what exactly happens in those sessions." Ty's eyes flashed, and Lavi knew Jeff more than likely wouldn't be able to walk after his introduction to turtle training basics.

Jeff sneered at him, and even snarled at the sight of the redhead standing uncertainly beside Lavi's brother, but Ty refused to be intimidated. Even reached out and grabbed Jeff by the front of his shirt and drug him closer. "If I hear you insult my sister, or any of my cousins, again I'll make sure that the time after you do, the words will be coming through dentures...understood?"

"Ty...don't." Cindy pulled gently on the hand she still held. "He's not worth it. He never was."

Ty just grunted and pushed Jeff back hard enough for him to stumble a few feet before he regained his balance. "You don't know who you are messing with, woman stealing turtle boy." Jeff spat at him.

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "I think you got that totally backwards there you idiot."

Jeff turned on him with a snarl, clearly about ready to launch a punch. Kyle just calmly pushed Lavi out of the way. But that punch was stopped before it even started. A third turtle had entered the argument, and this one didn't have his female on his arm to hold him back. "If your fist hits his face, ima gonna to rip it off." Uncle Raph growled at the much smaller human.

Clearly outnumbered now, Jeff finally backed off. The large turtle just glared at him, crossing his arms as Jeff retreated before he turned to the others. "What did you do to piss that one off?"

Cindy looked at Uncle Raph a bit nervously. "I have a feeling it's my fault." She admitted quietly.

"No." Ty said firmly. "It's not. Just because you were involved with him at one time doesn't give him the right to do what he's been doing."

"He's right red." The large turtle agreed quietly. "He doesn't own you. No one owns you. He was an ass to you and you left him. The fault for that is his if he can't let it go."

Whatever was about to be said next was lost by the sound of a large pop that made them all jump, hands reaching for weapons. It took battle ready minds a few moments to figure out that they weren't under attack, and by that time there was a green filmy smoke coming out of one of the tents, Kyle's tent. A tent Adam came stumbling out of as he hacked up a coughing lung.

Kyle dropped Lavi's hand and ran to his tent mate, trying to get the guy back on his feet. Then stopped, wide eyed as the fumes hit him. "Oh good lord in heaven!" Kyle gagged, dropping his friend. "What in the hell _is_ that!"

Nearby, leaning calmly against a tree with a wide grin, stood Uncle Mikey. "That, my dear Kyle, was the insides of one of Casey's famous stink bomb hockey pucks." Then he turned and walked whistling away.

Kyle looked down at Adam, who was laughing now along with gagging. "Not funny man! Now all my shit stinks because of you!"

Adam just laughed harder. "So worth it! The look on your face!" He howled.

Uncle Raph rolled his eyes. "Babies." He muttered under his breath as he walked away.

.

.

"We're here!" Epps happily announced while we climbed out of Hide.

"Yay?" Ari said. "Where exactly is 'here'?"

"One of the few airfields big enough to handle a certain someone."

" _That_ tells us a lot." Raph muttered as he looked around at the seeming abandoned airfield. "Who?"

Will walked over and laid his elbow on Epps' shoulder. "Yeah, sorry. Place doesn't get used much and it's gotten a bit run down over the years. Plans are in the works to bring it back up to speed though, since he came not too long ago."

We all looked curiously at each other. "Who?" I had to ask, echoing Raph.

The only answer we got from those two mischievous dunce caps were wide grins, and the slight shaking of the ground as the sounds of large, very large, footsteps could be made out. Then a bot even taller than Prime came into view from behind a large hangar and we had to crane our necks up so far Mikey actually fell over backwards. "That...is one big bot..."

His colors were predominantly white, with a bit of red trim and his head was so far up you almost couldn't make out his blue eyes in the early morning sun.

"Holy mother of god..." Cris breathed in awe. "He's bigger than I ever thought he would be..."

"Who?" Mikey asked. We were starting to sound like a bunch of owls.

She shook herself out of her daze. "In the G-1 cartoons he goes by Skyfire, but he's more commonly know as Jetfire."

"I thought Jetfire was that old jet in the movies?" I mumbled.

"Hide died too in those movies, and he's still here along with the others." She mumbled back.

"Good point."

"Well met Jetfire." Prime told the bigger bot as he walked up. "It seems we need your assistance."

"And I freely give it. Where are we heading on this beautiful day?"

Raph grunted. "A bit chipper for my taste."

Cris smacked his elbow. "Be nice, they can't all be as grumpy as you."

"Need a lift over the Pacific." Will called up to him "Going to Japan and you're about the only one big enough to handle all of us."

A quick nod of agreement was the answer he got, the the massive bot backed up and transformed into the biggest jet I had ever laid eyes on. "Holy Mother of Moses..."

We waited for the loading ramp to come down and then carefully walked in. Donnie was awe struck as he looked around. "This has to be the most sophisticated bot I've seen..." He blurted out, then winced as he looked at Jazz. "Sorry, no offense."

Jazz just waved it off with a chuckle. "This 'un is more of a scientist than ah fighter. Has all tha best gadgets an' gizmos in 'im. Not ev'n gonna lie."

While Donnie was walking around, looking like a star struck fan girl at a boy band concert, the rest of us got ourselves settled. Once the last Bot rolled in the ramp came up and Jetfire smoothly began to roll. And was in the air just as smooth a short time later.

About the only drawback was that there wasn't really any windows to look out of, so I settled for finding an out of the way spot and resorted to doing something I used to do way back in my army days. I made me a little lounging area with all of my gear. And then I settled down with a blanket, fully intending to sleep my way through much of the flight as possible.

I was restless though, and really couldn't settle down enough to sleep. Instead my eyes roamed around at everyone, idly watching as they found ways to entertain themselves. Ari had gathered a few of her friends and was playing some card game. Emily was with her, as well as Adam, a pretty blonde named Jessica, Kyle and Ty. That sight warmed my eyes and brought a smile to my lips. They were so lucky to have found these friends. It gave them a chance to socialize and not feel rejected from the rest of society. Overall, a positive experience in my opinion.

Thane was standing off to the side of that group, not really caring much for boring card games, but even I could tell his eyes wandered frequently over to Jessica. Shit, you had to be blind to miss it.

Lavi was talking quietly with Cindy in another area and Dante joined them after he made sure all of his gear was stored properly. And that group also had it's quiet watcher. Jeff was staring hard at Cindy, then flipped his eyes occasionally to Ty before glueing them back to the redhead again. Now _that_ one gave me a bad feeling and I frowned a bit as my eyes wandered over to him. Something was screaming at me that he was going to be trouble.

Leo walked over then, and smiled at my little makeshift lounge chair. "Done that a few times I see." He dropped his gear next to mine, but he just settled on leaning against the wall instead of making a cozy little nest.

I shrugged. "Live in discomfort long enough, you learn to make it comfortable."

I got that amused half smile before he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him. "And here I was thinking I was the only comfort you needed."

"Pfft, that's a different kind of comfort. Keeping my head on straight ain't going to help my sore ass from sitting in a hard place for too long."

That got a laugh out of him before he settled down. Then his eyes did the same thing mine did, wandered over the various members of our family as they hung out with their friends. "They seem to be getting along very well."

I caught the shy, baffled look Emily gave Dante and his calm gaze in return and smiled. "I think it's progressing farther than the 'get along' phase Leo. It's more along the lines of sneaking kisses in the moonlight."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

I laughed at him. "Oh, come off it. They are grown. How many times am I going to have to beat that into your head?"

"A lot." He deadpanned back. Then he grew quiet after another sigh of loss and regret as he watched Ari's group break out into laughter as Adam threw his cards in the air in mock disgust. "I always feared losing them to Hun, Bishop or countless others who have tried to hurt them over the years, only to find that I'm losing them to growing up."

"Still holding onto that?" I asked him softly.

"Vicky...I can't let it go. I don't know how."

Nothing I could really say to that to calm him really. The only thing I could do was lean into him and give him what little comfort I could. "Hey, you'll always have me."

His answer was to kiss my hair and wrap his arm around me tighter, then we both quietly watched from our little corner as our children widened that independance gap some more.


	23. Chapter 23

"Hey!" Epps called out with a grin. "Anyone want to go to Hawaii? I'll just have Jetfire open the back and kick you out. I'll have you on the ground in a few minutes."

That joke was met with groans and eyerolls from everyone in earshot.

"Sure." Mikey replied. "Just as soon as you find someone nice enough to shovel what's left of me into a bag and teach the bag how to walk."

"I can't do _every_ thing for you clown boy." Epps grinned wider at him.

I chuckled a little from where I was leaning against Leo, just waking up from a nap. I rubbed my eyes and sat up with a stretch, wincing as my body let a few pops go. He gave me a small grin as everything settled back into place. "It seems your little nest isn't so comfortable after all."

"Still better than sitting on the hard floor." I leaned back against him and brought my blanket up around me again before I snuggled into his arms. I was happy, warm and relaxed. If I closed my eyes and drowned out the flying noise, it almost felt like I was home. That illusion was quickly kicked out of my head when the whole plane suddenly shook.

That was the first clue that something was wrong, the second was Hide popping out his cannons. "Decepticons!" he roared as he stomped towards the cargo door in the back.

Sunny and Sides were already there, an excited, almost evil gleam in their eyes. "Busting Cons never gets old." Sides happily informed Sunny, who grinned in agreement.

Will scrambled into motion. "Medics! Secure everything down! The rest of you, get those rocket launchers and get into position! And everyone, make sure you tie yourselves off! I don't need one of you to fall out of the damn plane!"

Leo quickly grabbed a line that was attached to the wall behind us and wrapped it around our things, shoving me out of my cozy hole so he could do it faster. I muttered obscenities at him as I picked myself up off of the floor. A soft, quiet chuckle met my ears as Emily came over and handed me a harness. "Here, strap this on. Before he gets excited and gives you another shove and you roll out the back of the plane."

"Throw his ass out of the back of the plane if he does it again." I muttered as I slipped it on and hooked it up, amongst another shudder.

Once I was in it she clipped a strap to it that was attached to the top of the plane. "The set up is rigged to where you can move freely around, just try and not to get tangled with someone else. Jetfire hates it when his lines get tangled."

Leo caught me as the plane shuddered harder this time. "Oh yay. Another thing to worry about. As if being shot at in midair by Cons wasn't enough."

Emily just gave me a slight smile, then looked doubtfully at the other harness she held and Leo. "I...don't think this is going to fit..."

Leo gave he a small smile, fully aware of her shy nature and not wanting to startle her, even though his eyes were already lighting up with that fire you knew was the prelude to someone getting his ass whopped. "I'll make due, just give me the line."

She handed it to him and he wrapped it around himself and tied it off into a knot. just in time too, because a wind began to rip through the space as the back of the plane opened. Sunny and sides were out of it as soon as it opened up far enough for them to slip through, with Sides cry of "Jet-judoooooo!" filling our ears.

Raph rolled his eyes. "And how exactly are they supposed to get back _in_ the damn plane?"

Cris just shrugged, but had a wide grin on her face. "I love those boys."

Will crossed his arms in exasperation. "Someone better, because i'm about to shove one of Hide's grenades up their asses. Didn't i say I didn't want to lose anyone out there?

"Maybe they thought you didn't mean Bots."

Will just gave her a long, level look before he joined his men at the back of the plane. We followed him, but stayed out of they way as they returned fire at the Cons that were hounding us.

"Should have known the going was too good." Epps muttered as he fired out the back.

"They're not stupid Epps." Will told him even as he opened fire. "Well, Starscream is, but the other higher ups have a smart head on their shoulders. Most of them were concentrated on the asian continent already, now that we are heading that way I think they've figured out that we may be after the same thing."

Leo shook his head. "And we don't even really know what it is we are after."

"Something big by the way it looks." Epps replied as he reloaded. "Big enough to grab their attention enough to want to keep us away from it."

"Down!" Hide thundered as a Con flew by the opening, firing inside as it did. We all dropped to the floor as small arms rounds strafed over our heads to slam into the interior further in.

Bee responded with a blue plasma shot of his own that hit more true and a wing exploded on the Con and it began to spiral away towards the ocean below, a long black cloud marking the path it took.

But he wasn't the only one that got a hit in, his was just more noticeable at first. The flyby had shot through a few lines and a few soldiers began to get pulled out of the plane, Adam among them. The bots were able to grab most of them but Ari's terrified scream told us he wasn't so lucky as he was swept out into the open air, his line trailing behind him.

Leo didn't even stop to think as he launched himself out after him, cutting his own line in the process so he could reach past the length it gave him. I didn't even have time to let out the startled scream that wanted to pass through my lips as he dove for that trailing line and catching it before it disappeared over the loading ramp. Then with the hand that still held the katana, he stabbed that sword into the last few feet of metal and snagged them both to a halt. You could clearly see the strain on his face as he fought against numerous forces of nature, gravity and who knows what else to keep his hold firm.

Mikey was the next one to act. He pulled out a kunai, leapt up and cut his line close to the top and reached out to grab Leo's fluttering strand and hung there a moment on it. His legs were wrapped around the still tied down line before he went to work on tying the two loose ends together and secured them with a firm knot. Then he carefully walked backwards along the ramp, feeding the line through his hands as he went.

My heart was beating wildly by the time he finally reached Leo, with not much line to spare. Leo, with a large amount of effort, pulled Adam's line back in and towards his younger brother and managed to hand it off before another hit rocked the plane. That was all it took for him to lose his grip, and he went over.

"Leo!" Mikey and I both shouted together as the falling turtle tried to grab Adam's line, but found it just out of his reach.

 _"No!"_ Mikey roared, his normally happy features twisted with anger and grief at the loss of his oldest brother.

I stood in wide eyed shock at what happened before my eyes started to water. Just like that...he was out of my sight...gone... "No..." I echoed Mikey in disbelief, then screamed it louder "No!"

The pain I was feeling in my heart almost made me miss what happened next, and I couldn't make sense of it when I did see it. The pouch Mikey had tied to his side began to glow, brightly, from the inside out. Whatever was in there was shining bright enough to where it was clearly visible through the material.

Once it reached a certain brightness, bright enough to where you couldn't even look at it, the winds began to flow around the plane, harder and faster. But it didn't disrupt Jetfire's flight path in the least, it was causing havoc to the Cons out there though as a fierce whirlwind tore through their ranks. Fierce enough to where some were torn to pieces from it. I had never seen winds that strong, nor even heard of it before. And amid all of that destruction, something happened I couldn't believe I was seeing.

A massive gust came from behind and below us, carrying a very confused and bewildered Leonardo back up with it. He seemed to just glide effortlessly back onto the plane before he was gently set back down on the edge of the ramp, right next to Mikey. Then he gripped Mikey's line in a death grip, his green face now very pale and his eyes wide.

Raph was the first one to snap out of that befuddled daze we all were in at what we just saw. "Somebody help me pull them in!" He snapped as he closed in on the line.

Optimus beat him to it and carefully began reeling in the two turtles and the human who was still dangeling out the back. By the time all three were safely back inside, Mikey's pouch had dimmed again.

Donnie walked over to him, just as stunned as the rest of us. "What to you have in there?" He asked in a strained, shaky voice.

Mikey's hand shook as he dipped it into the pouch, and pulled out his gem. "This...it's the only thing I had in there..." He swallowed hard as he looked at it, then at Leo. Leo returned that gaze, just as shook up.

He didn't have time to say anything about it though, because that's when I crashed into him, hard. My arms wrapped around him in a hard hug of relief even as his came around me. Ari was giving Adam the same treatment.

It was about that time Sides' head came popping down from the top. "Stupid winds took all my Cons." He grumbled before he got a firmer grip on the edge and swung his lower body down and back inside. Sunny came back in right behind him and the door closed back up again. "Where did that windstorm come from anyway?"

No one answered him, but Mikey was still staring at the gem in his hand, that was still shaking. He stared at it a long while before he closed his fingers around it and tucked it back in his pouch.

It took just as long for me to calm down to the point I could step back from Leo. "Are you alright?"

"I'm...fine..." He slowly replied, he still looked a bit wild around the eyes though. Then he swallowed hard. "Cris?"

She walked over to us where she was watching with a mix of awe and disbelief. "Yes?"

"You remeber that time I made you jump out of a plane?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry about that. And I'll never do it to you again."

"Oh?" Her eyes lit up with amusement then. "And it only took you falling out of one yourself to see how shitty it is?" She crossed her arms. "Now you know how I felt."

Leo nodded and turned to go to the front of the plane. "Yes, I do."

"'Bout damn time someone sees my point of view around here."


	24. Chapter 24

The rest of the flight was calm after that spat. Jetfire landed on one of the U.S. Military bases after sunset and the NEST personnel quickly scrambled to get everything, and everyone, unloaded. Taking great care to hide the turtles from the normal troops as they did. Word of the Bots had leaked out over the years, but that didn't mean Cindy's new friends, and her love interest, had to be exposed as well.

The turtles all loaded up in the Bots before Jetfire even lowered his loading ramp, and the Bot's quickly tinted their windows. Cindy already missed riding with Ty, who had become a firm fixture in her and Kyle's vehicle over the last few days. She told herself repeatedly that it was only until they got off base and they had a bit more freedom to move around.

Cindy drove this time, easily following the convoy as it pulled out of the airfield. She decided she didn't like this buggy. Her old one had been stashed at the California base because it had been crowded enough with everyone onboard. Jetfire was big, but that didn't mean he had unlimited space. Good thing Will was smart enough, from experience, to have whatever they needed stashed at various bases all over the place. It was with a fair amount of accuracy that you could say at least one base had NEST gear and vehicles stored in every country. If the country was friendly enough to house a base anyway.

Kyle was unusually quiet as he rode in the passenger seat, his foot propped up on the dash. He just stared blankly out at the troops wandering around that were still on duty as they passed. The third member of their team, Patrick, was already sleeping in the back seat. He was the replacement for Joe, who had been sent back with the other hurt individuals when they all got firebombed. Patrick was a good kid, she supposed, if a bit inexperienced. But she was already missing Joe and his wild stories from his childhood and home that always seemed to lighten up these long road trips.

"You're unusually quiet tonight." Cindy noted as she made a right turn. "Cons got you spooked?"

"Pfft." Was Kyle's reply to that.

"Then what's bugging you?"

He turned his head from the window and looked at her directly. "Honestly? Jeff is."

"Oh?" Cindy asked, trying to be nonchalant about it. But she knew what was coming.

"Don't act all innocent Cindy. He's been getting worse and you know it."

Yup, that's what she expected. "Kyle, I've been able to handle him for months now. He's nothing to be scared of. All words and no action with that one."

"That's when you were still single and he thought he still had a chance to get back with you. Now that Ty is in the picture..." He shook his head. "I'm not sure what's going on in that mind of his."

"Stupidity." Cindy answered back.

"That's the part that worries me." Kyle grumbled low enough to where Cindy almost didn't hear him.

Cindy rolled her eyes, but kept quiet as the convoy rolled out of the base and onto the civilian streets. Kyle didn't bring the issue back up and they talked about other, nonimportant things as they drove on. Even shared a few jokes though their laughter was nothing compared to what Joe could bring out of them.

Thankfully they didn't travel long before they called a halt for the night and the the campsite setup preparations began. They had done it so much the last few days that it actually took a very short amount of time for all the tents to come up, then the campfires started.

Cindy loved campfires. Sure they had flashlights and all kinds of other lights to use out here, but there was nothing like the old comfort from her childhood. That reddish orange flame that flickered, creating both heat and warmth spurring the awfully told ghost stories. And, as Ari pointed out numerous times, they were great for making s'mores. It had been her pink masked friend that actually got this group started on campfires. That first time they had stopped for the night, the first thing she did was gather her own wood and piled it up before meticulously setting a few off to the side. Then she began to make a rock ring in the space she had cleared of debris. When her father curiously asked her what she was doing she promptly pulled out her marshmallows from her pack and grinned at him. "I want s'mores! We got interrupted last time..."

Michelangelo grinned at his daughter, then helped her get it lit. And every time now they stopped, there was always at least one fire going. And it was usually accompanied by Ari munching on her favorite treat.

Sure enough, even as Cindy went to get her gear from her vehicle, Ari was already firmly entrenched on a log, marshmallow on a stick and roasting away. The red haired woman shook her head with a small smile. The girl could kick some serious ass, but she had such a childish innocence to her. Ari deeply enjoyed things the rest of them thought they had outgrown. Soon she had company, because Kyle and Ty walked over to her, deep in discussion as they went. A conversation they ended right before Kyle joined the youngest turtle and Ty went off into the woods. Cindy figured he might have gotten stuck with first watch tonight. She smiled a bit over that. She wasn't scheduled for watch herself, so when he was done they would have at least a couple of hours together later.

Ty, now that one caused feelings in her she still really couldn't believe. He was everything you wanted in a partner. Kind, considerate, confident without becoming overly cocky from it, calm, a little shy about certain things, like talking to girls. She still giggled over his reaction the first time she made her interest known. Cindy didn't know a green turtle could get that red. And his kisses were tender. She shivered at that thought. Very tender, and loving. In short, he was everything Jeff hadn't been.

That mistake on her dating record was quick to anger, in a bad way. Controlling and looked at her more as a prize to be shown off rather than the person she actually was. It took her a while to see what really lurked underneath that handsome exterior, but when she finally found what was there she quickly broke it off. Cindy refused to fall into that pit. Now Ty on the other hand, she could actually see that going somewhere. To be honest, she felt it deep inside her that she might not have to look for that perfect match anymore. Something told her that she found him. The thought didn't disappoint her either.

Just the thought of him put her in an unusual mood and she began pulling her things from the vehicle with a slight smile on her face, humming quietly. She couldn't wait for later and their usual custom of sitting a bit before the fire together, talking and sharing things from their lives. Getting to know each other more and more. She began to cherish those quiet moments with him. To Cindy they were a perfect way to wind down the day.

Her happy reminiscing was cut quickly short by a blinding pain in her head. She collapsed, dazed, over her half pulled out pack before she was quickly gagged then she was roughly turned around. Cindy couldn't quite comprehend what she was seeing as Jeff loomed over her, now dropping the stick he had just nailed her with. "You bitch. You are mine. You always will be mine. And it's time I reminded you of that." His hands went to her belt, undoing it before forcing her pants down.

That was enough to snap Cindy out of that daze. Her hand formed into a fist that went for his head even as her knee came up. The wrist he caught, but the nut check he was only able to partially dodge. He growled in anger through his pain and brought his own fist in and it slammed into her face, knocking her head back. Again her vision swam as she tried to focus in on him again and he took that moment to take her own belt and wrap it quickly around her wrists before tying it off to the vehicle. Leaving her uncomfortably arched over her pack and no way to get any leverage on him after he kicked her legs wide apart and placed himself between them. "You never could out fight me in training, what makes you think you could now?"

Then grin he gave her was just downright evil as he began to undo his own pants. And all too soon she felt his hot flesh against her. "I know you missed this."

Cindy screamed into her gag, hoping someone would hear the muffled sound as tears began to fall from her eyes as he lined himself up. He laughed at her renewed struggle attempts. A laugh that was quickly washed off of his face when a fist came in from the side and hit hard enough to where you could hear his nose crack. Before that hit even registered, a second one came in and hit him in the stomach, and that was the one that knocked Jeff off of her.

Jeff fell out of her line of sight and Ty stood there. Even in the dark she could see his unusual eyes as they seemed to flare as he stalked on. Jeff was on his feet by now, a snarl on his face under his bloody nose as the turtle stormed in and he pulled a bowie knife out. That was also about the dumbest thing he could have done at that moment.

Even as Cindy hung there and watched, shaking, Ty brought his foot up and around in a spin kick, knocking that blade out of Jeff's hand. And Ty wasn't finished with him, not by a long shot. Jeff was getting a first hand education on what it's like to piss off a mutated turtle that had been trained to fight since he could walk, and it wasn't ending well for him. Ty's fist's seemed to move faster than light as they came in again and again. Some Jeff managed to block, but most of them found their way through those defenses and pummeled his body.

Then Cindy wasn't alone. Lavi was there after running up from the other side and quickly untied her and removed the gag from the now crying woman. Then Lavi held onto her tight as she began to slide to the ground, her shaking legs giving out under her. Lavi didn't say anything, but offered what support she could even as she watched with an angry pride at the beating Jeff was getting.

Ty connected with Jeff's stomach, hard. And when he doubled over the other fist came in from below and connected with an already battered face and Jeff flipped over backwards. Ty had a snarl on his face now as he advanced again.

"Titian! Enough!" Leonardo's voice rang out over the commotion. He walked up, his own eyes blazing as he moved in to restrain his son by holding onto the arm that had come up again. "He's down. Your point has been made son, don't stoop to his level."

Vicky joined Lavi and they managed between them to steady Cindy on her feet. She even quickly replaced the pants as others began running up. Cindy couldn't even give her thanks through the sobs that choked her.

"What in the hell is going on!" Epps roared as he led the gaggle that came running up next. Kyle among them.

Cindy's team mate took in her battered, crying face and disheveled clothes then narrowed his eyes at the man who was struggling to get to his feet. "You fucking bastard!"

"She's mine!" Jeff snapped back. "And no freak is going to take her from me!"

Ty faced his father with a raised eyeridge inquiry, now from calm eyes. Leonardo just gave him a calm look in return a moment. Then they both spun and punched him in the face again. Cindy clearly heard the crack of a breaking jawbone as he flew over the next vehicle and disappeared on the other side. An instant later there was a groaning thud coming from the now unseen Jeff. Cindy took a lot of satisfaction from that.

Epps shook his head as he meandered around the vehicle with Tony who had a wry grin on his face. "You would think he would know better." Tony told Epps.

Epps sighed. "You would think."

Ty didn't pay Jeff anymore mind after that, but zeroed in on Cindy, carefully taking her from his mother and sister and held her close to him. She cried against him, her body shuddering with sobs as his deep voice tried to calm her down. His persistence won out and she finally took a long, shuddering breath and settled down. He still wouldn't let her go though. Not even when his Uncle Donatello carefully looked her over. The purple masked turtle had to work around Ty, but he didn't complain.

"She's going to have a couple nasty bruises, and a headache for a while, but she'll be ok." He pulled out a bottle of pills and sent Lavi off for a bottle of water. "Give her these." He shook two out into his palm and handed them to Ty. "They'll help her pain so she can get some sleep tonight."

"Why are you giving them to me Uncle?"

Donatello just gave him a slight smile as he looked from the couple to Jeff who was being carried away in preparation to be shipped back to the base they had just left. "Because I think it's safe to say, nephew, if you are anything like your father, I know you won't leave her side. Now, go put her to bed."

Ty blushed a little, but easily picked Cindy up and carried her to her tent and laid her gently on her cot before tucking her into her sleeping bag, then gave her the pills. And, just like his uncle had predicted, he stayed with her. His hand holding hers as he quietly sat next to her cot. Those small gestures comforting her to no end, and soon the medication began to have the desired effect and she drifted off. But not before she felt his lips gently kiss her cheek. "I love you Cindy." His whispered words were the last thing she heard before sleep took it's hold on her.


	25. Chapter 25

Even as quietly as his father slipped into the tent, he still woke the drowsing Ty. He opened his tired eyes and raised them to his father, even as he started to get up from where he was sitting.

"No Ty, don't." Leonardo told his son in a quiet voice. "You don't have to get up." He instead knelt down on one knee next to Ty, whose hand reached out for Cindy's again. "How is she?" he asked as he rested an elbow on his knee.

"She's been out since I gave her Uncle Donnie's medicine."

The elder turtle just nodded, then reached out and tucked the bag around her where it had slipped a bit. Ty gave him an amused look and Leonardo caught it, then gave him a small smile in return. "Sorry. Old habits die hard."

"Done this with Mom a few times?" Came the chuckling question.

"A few." He ruefully admitted. "She's found herself in similar predicaments over the years."

"I remember a few of them." Ty's thumb began to gently stroke the back of Cindy's hand and he grew quiet as he did.

"Don't start son." Leonardo told him, now looking firmly at the younger turtle.

"Start what?"

His father gave him a penetrating look before he answered. "The guilt trip."

Ty blushed a little under that gaze, and having been so easily read. Ever since he had walked in on what was about to happen he was berating himself. He _knew_ Jeff was a problem, he _knew_ he was the controlling type, he _knew_ he wasn't taking too kindly to Cindy's affection being placed on someone else. As far as Ty was concerned, what had happened was his fault. Ty should have been watching over her.

His father raised an eyeridge at him, then shook his head somewhat ruefully. "So much like your old man." He muttered quietly.

Ty blushed again. "That's supposed to be a good thing I thought."

Father's quiet laugh echoed through the tent. "Not when you get my bad habits along with the good. I can't tell you how many time's I've beat myself up over the years."

Ty raised his own eyeridge. "And beat up the ones who were responsible."

Leonardo snorted. "That's a given." He reached out and adjusted the sleeping bag again with meticulous care. "She really got under your skin, didn't she?"

Ty nodded quietly. "That obvious huh?"

"It was right about the time you dished out that beating." His face had a slight smile on it. "It would be the same thing any of us would do for our mates."

"Mate? Dad we haven't even...done that, I mean..." Damn his embarrassment!

Leonardo was laughing hard now, trying to keep it quiet. "Son, I wasn't going to go there." He shook his head. "It's the feelings I was referring to, not the actions. Lord the conversations I've been having with you and your sister lately." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "What you did out there was protect your mate. It's as simple as that. And she is, regardless if you've done the deed or not, because you feel it in your heart. You see her that way, and your instincts kicked in."

Ty took a moment to really digest what he was saying, then sighed in understanding as his eyes wandered to her sleeping face. "Dad, I do want to apologize for forcing you into these conversations, but I'm glad we have them. Learning to fight is easy. Learning to love..." He shook his head. "It's not."

"No, it isn't. And it's even harder for us because of what we are. We deal with things humans can't really comprehend. But in the end, the effort to learn is well worth the reward. Just keep remembering that." Leonardo laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You're doing fine son. And you picked a fine girl to fall for. I'd be honored to have her join the family." He turned away from a now speechless Ty, then paused and turned back with a grin. "Oh, by the way. Hide just made it back with Tony. Apparently Jeff had a few more accidents on the way to the base. For some reason the seats kept malfunctioning and slamming him into the dashboard. Weirdest thing really."

Ty grinned back at him. "Maybe he should get that checked out?"

Father's grin grew wider. "That's the funny thing. It seems to be only temporary. Tony said on the way back they worked just fine."

Ty tried really hard to keep from laughing so he wouldn't wake Cindy up.

"Just keep an eye on her and if she needs anything, let your uncle know."

"Thanks Dad."

With a nod, Ty's father left just as quietly as he came in. Leaving Ty once again alone with his thoughts. He sat staring at the tent wall for a long time before he felt someone watching him and he looked down at the woman on the cot and met her green eyes. He gave her a smile as he moved in closer, brushing her hair out of her face. "Hey, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Sore." Cindy admitted quietly, her eyes still intently watching him.

That stare confused him a little, and made him blush again for some reason. "What?" He finally asked her.

"Did you mean that?"

"Mean what?"

Her eyebrows raised up a little and a small amused smile found it's way onto her lips. "That you love me?"

His eyes grew wide and that damn fire turned up in his face again. "Y-you...weren't...supposed to hear that..."

"Do you?" Her eyes sparkled with amusement.

Ty took a deep breath and looked right into her glorious green eyes. "Yes Cindy, I do. I...just didn't want you to think I was...pushing it by saying it so soon. But the truth is, I've fallen for you, hard. I can't imagine not having you with me anymore. I love you Cindy."

Her eyes filled with something else as his words hit her ears and she went silent, for a long while. Long enough to where Ty was getting nervous as she looked at him. Then she sat up and leaned over to him and kissed him. Cindy's arms wrapped around his neck, firmly holding him in place when he tried to pull away. Finally he managed to break from her, his eyes a little confused over the reaction he just got. "You ok?" Maybe it was a side effect of the meds his uncle gave her, though this is the first time something like this had happened.

She laughed quietly as she stroked his cheek. "Oh Ty, I'm perfectly fine."

"You sure? I mean...you've never...kissed me like that before."

She just smiled at him before her hands went to the hem of her shirt, and she pulled it off. Ty's eyes grew wide and he stared at her, toungue tied and in shock. And he started shaking when her hands came up again and removed her bra. He stared at her some more, his face aflame as he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her.

Then something else seemed to take over as a low, desire filled growl came up from his throat. She didn't flinch from him as his head came to hers this time, kissing her hard. His hands wandered to her pale skin that seemed to call out to him. She returned it just as needy, her now bare upper body pressed against him as her arms found their way around his neck again.

He now understood Lavi's fear a little better as something more primal came to the surface. Another low growl escaped his throat as he pulled her from the cot and onto the floor of the tent with him and it was with a large amount of effort he restrained himself from just tearing off her pants. Instead he removed his harness and gear. By the time he was done with that, Cindy had taken care of her pants herself. She knelt now in front of him with nothing on and her red curls loosely flowing around her face, over her shoulders and down her back. Her eyes were calm, her expression showed no fear as she watched him fight his inner most desires.

Ty himself shook, hard, unsure if he should give into this feeling his father had warned him about. But he wanted to touch her... His trembling hand came up and gently caressed her side as he fought with himself. "So...beautiful..." Came the soft whisper in a moment of clarity.

Her reply was a smile as she moved closer against him, and laid a tender kiss on his cheek. Then her soft whisper came to his ear. "I love you too Ty."

Those words send his two sides clashing into each other again, and uncertainty began to fill him. He had thought he had this under control. Apparently, he didn't. Not fully. "Cindy..." His words choked off as another growl tried to force it's way out. "I...I don't want to...hurt..."

"You won't." Came her reassuring words. "I trust you." She held his face in between her hands to force him to look at her. "Claim your willing mate Titian." One of her hands came down from his cheek and took his own hand, and guided it to her warm, and already moist, folds. She pushed his fingers against her clit and a low moan escaped her throat as her head leaned back, her mouth now open with pleasure.

He couldn't resist that sound and his head came forward and caught that open mouth in a fierce kiss, and kept that momentum going as he laid her on her back. He leaned now over her, his tongue eagerly tasting her, his hand eagerly exploring her mound, caressing it, teasing it and was rewarded with desired filled moans from her.

Those sounds hit him in his primal core and a growl forced it's way to the surface. She was overwhelming his senses. Ty could smell her arousal, felt her warm skin on him, tasted her sweet taste. And a new sensation built inside of him when she undid his pants and pushed them down and out of her way, her hand curiously wandering his low plastron until she found that section that was beginning to bulge.

Ty wasn't prepared for his body's reaction when those gentle fingers touched him. He shuddered violently as a churr ripped from his throat. He looked into her green eyes with wonder. Wonder that she could pull those reactions from him so easily. It was that wonder he felt that finally pushed his more primal side away, and he became less demanding and more concerned with her pleasure. His hand moved up from her clit and explored her body, gently running his fingertips over her soft skin. His eyes taking in the reactions his touches caused before his hand cupped her breast lightly.

Cindy's eyes closed and her head rolled to the side. Her chest now heaving with desire as his fingers gently kneaded that mound, his thumb running over the hardened nipple. On an impulse he brought his head to it, and took it into his mouth. A low cry came from her when his teeth nipped softly and she squirmed under him when he softly sucked on it. "Ty..." She breathed. "Please..." He knew what she was asking when her hips pushed up, firmly pressing her groin against his.

The young turtle didn't even hesitate. He freed himself from his slit fully and leaned over her, placing himself between her widespread legs. Then he gently slid in.

Her eyes grew wide as her breath caught in her throat. "Oh god! Ty...mmm..."

"Are you alright?" He froze at her expression, now slightly worried that he had hurt her.

She nodded and he began to move inside of her. "Just...not used...to your...siiiiize!" Her head pressed against the floor as she lost herself in his movements. Whimpers from her now filled his ears, her arms wrapped around his neck as his head lowered close to hers.

Again and again he pushed into her, each thrust more sure, more confident at her body's reaction. Soon he had a firm rhythm set that had her squirming under him as her hips came up to meet his, forcing him into her deeper. The sounds coming from her raised that more primal side again and he began to thrust even harder, and was rewarded by her soft cries. Ty's cheeks met hers and he firmly rubbed against them, marking her as his mate even as his member kept laying claim to another part of her. Her body couldn't seem to hold still as he all but rammed into her, low growls coming out of his throat as he took pleasure from feeling her warm flesh around him.

Her arms tightened around his neck as she pressed her cheek against his. "Ty! I'm... I'm going...to... Nnngh!" Her body tensed, then shook violently, her muscles clamping around him as he kept pushing into her.

A moment later he felt the same sensation she did as his tensed through his ecjaculation, ramming into her hard before a loud groan was forced out of his body. He shook along with her as the spasms flew through both of their bodies, soon enough leaving them both laying there in exhaustion as their bodies calmed.

It was the content hum that came from her that made him raise his head from where it had come to rest on her chest. Her eyes were warm when they met his, and her hand trembled slightly when it stroked his cheek. "I love you Ty."

He kissed her tenderly before he answered. "I love you too Cindy."

The magical moment was interrupted when there was a loud, high pitched scream coming from outside. Ty quickly got up and fastened his pants again before going out to investigate. He stopped and blinked as he saw his uncle Mikey hopping around and slapping at himself.

After a moment Uncle Raph poked his head out of his tent across the campground. "What the fuck Mikey! It's the middle of the damn- What in the hell is wrong with you?"

The orange masked turtle didn't answer, but kept his slap dance up.

Adam however was walking calmly back to his tent. "It might be those fire ants I slipped into his sleeping bag."

Uncle Raph just facepalmed and slipped back into his tent. Ty laughed and shook his head as he retreated back inside, and to the woman who was now firmly entrenched into his heart. He pulled her bag from the cot and opened it all the way before laying it on the floor, then gently picked her up and carried her to it and settled down next to her before covering her with it again. She snuggled against him with a tired mewling sound and he smiled at her. His arms now wrapped firmly around her he drifted off to sleep, perfectly content with her in his arms.


	26. Chapter 26

It was pretty obvious that after that night, something had changed with Ty. Not necessarily in a bad way either. In fact, I was rather happy with the way things were going. He finally emerged from Cindy's tent as the sun began to make it's way upwards, holding her hand firmly and a with baffled look full of wonder on his face as the rest of us were almost finishing up loading up.

Leo walked over to them, a small smile on his face. "About time. Was starting to wonder if you were going to sleep all day." Then he paused and gave the boy a long level look, sensing something I really couldn't as I moved closer to check on Cindy. Then he rubbed his forehead. "Son, when I said last night you were protecting your mate... I didn't mean for you to formalize it."

My son's face went that weird red shade they get when they blush, and Cindy's wasn't much better when she hid a little behind Ty to escape that blue eyed gaze. My own mate was having none of it as he pulled her back out to face him. "Don't. It's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm more worried that what happened before might have influenced it." He looked at Ty. "Did it?"

Ty sighed. "Maybe a little." He pulled Cindy to his side. "It let me see how much I really care for her, and I let her know that."

His gaze went to Cindy next and she blushed harder. "I love him." She simply said, fighting past her embarrassed intimidation to even get those words out.

The smile Leo gave them was like the sun coming up and he pulled her closer to him. "Then, I guess I have no choice but to welcome you into the family."

She looked a little confused at that and I took pity on the poor girl. "He loves you, you love him. That's all that's required to join this particular family. Here you tend to join before the wedding bells ring."

"From here on out Cindy, if you ever need anything you can come to me." Leo added softly. "I'll do whatever I can for you."

Her eyes teared up as she looked from me, back to Leo, then to Ty who gave her a soft smile and a soft shrug. "It's how it pretty much worked out with all of them too."

"All you need is love!" Mikey sang as he walked closer and began to take the tent apart.

Cindy still looked confused and flustered as Ty wrapped his arm around her. "But...how did he even know!"

Ty laughed and kissed her forehead. "He knows everything."

"Not quite." Leo corrected in an amused tone. "But I'm working on it."

"Stop teasing the poor girl." Donnie said when he came up to help Mikey. He paused on his way and gave her a level look. "He smelt Ty on you. Apparently Ty's marking scent is potent when he's aroused."

Ty groaned as he slapped a hand to his eyes. "Thanks a lot Uncle."

Donnie just shrugged. "She did ask."

Cindy looked even more confused. "I understand nothing..."

I laughed and pulled her away from those embarrassing older turtles and they, along with Ty, helped Mikey with the tent. "Don't mind them dear. They've been getting into the bad habit of trying to embarrass the crap out of the kids lately."

"But what does he mean?" She looked honestly curious now. "I still don't understand a lot of things."

I smiled at her. "Despite the teasing, it's not really a bad thing. Humans can't even smell it. All it is, is that he lost himself in the moment enough to rub his scent on you. It's another way of letting everyone know 'This is the woman I chose, keep your hands off.' "

Her eyes flashed a moment. "So, he owns me?"

"No silly." I laughed again. "He doesn't own you. Just like Leo doesn't own me, and I've been marked a few times myself. Just think of it as another way of him letting you know he cares about you and it's a smell involved way rather than a visual one. A way that only the other turtles can detect. They know now that things are growing serious between you. Not like we haven't been waiting for it. Leo and I have been watching you two for weeks now and fully expected this next step to happen sooner or later."

Her face flushed again. "Am I going to have to...put up with that every time we have sex? I'm not sure I can stand the embarrassment."

"Cindy, he knows the others can pick it up and he won't do that to you. Leo doesn't do it often either, for the same reasons. Ty probably was really worked up and let his instincts take control for a moment. This is all just as new to him as dating a turtle is new to you. You both will adjust with time. Now, enough of that. How are you feeling?"

"Still a bit sore honestly."

I turned to her and gently tilted her head to the light so I could look. "You've got a nasty bruise on your face too. He got a good hit on you."

Tony overheard me as he came walking up and gave a short laugh. "You should see Jeff. He's so black and blue, you can't tell his natural skin color if you looked at his face." He then handed her some more pain pills and a bottle of water. "Let Kyle drive today, you I want to rest some more."

"I'm fine." She began to protest. I smiled. There was that turtle mate stubbornness, already shining brightly through.

"You will rest." Ty told her as he passed with the now folded up tent and stored it in her vehicle and began to tie it down. "Because I'm riding with you today to make sure you do." I grinned. And there was that turtle overprotectiveness.

She glared at him, and he ignored it as he pulled the straps tight. Then she looked at me. "Please tell me, are they all like this?"

"Yup." Came my answer. "Better get used to that too."

She looked like she wanted to chew nails for a moment, then she shook her head and laughed. "Fine." She sighed, then popped the pills in her mouth.

Kyle, now chuckling, slipped into the driver's seat as the third member of their team took the front passenger one. Ty carefully helped Cindy into the back and then sat next to her before firmly pulling her against him.

I still had that smile on my face as I walked over to Hide and slipped in.

"And why do you have that silly grin plastered onto your face this morning?" He asked.

"It's always nice to spend time with your kids before the start of a long, boring, day."

Leo just gave me a curious raised eyeridge as he slid in. "This from the one who is notoriously a grumpy morning person."

"My thoughts exactly reptile."

I crossed my arm and glared at them. "Fine, you pair of unromantic idiots. I'm happy for my son, ok? For the longest time I wasn't sure if he or Lavi would find someone, and now they are both in relationships. So stop raining on my mushy Mom parade and let me enjoy their happiness.

Hide just snorted at me as he started to roll out, but Leo gave me a long, quiet look before he turned his head to look out the window.

 _'What's wrong Leo, you should be happy for him.'_

 _'I am dear one. I really am. But we just brought another into our fold, and I'm not sure I can protect her.'_

 _'What's wrong with Ty watching over her?'_

He just shrugged and remained quiet. I myself sighed in frustration. Why couldn't he just accept the fact that they were growing? They were starting to move on with their lives? I know it's painful, especially when you spend a large portion of your life watching over them, but you have got to let go sometime.

 _'Maybe so. Maybe I am holding on too hard.'_

 _'No maybe about it Leo. You want them to stay the same, happy, smiling toddlers that used to run around and get into everything. They can't. Eventually they turn into happy, smiling adults that get into everything. I'm surprised you aren't ready to kick them out yet, I know Raph is.'_

That actually got a smile out of him. Even if it was a small one.

We traveled on, Leo looking out at the scenery as the sun rose higher, and me watching him. To be honest this depression he couldn't seem to snap out of had me very worried. It was a peculiar thing to watch, but also not a healthy thing. When things were calm he seemed normal, but as the relationships around us grew, or after every conflict we've been through lately, that unseen worry that he was losing the ability to look over his family expanded. He was becoming more quiet and withdrawn when it was just us two.

I shook my head and finally turned away from him with a sigh. He didn't even notice as his eyes seemed locked out the window, looking at things that weren't in front of him as the scenery passed by him, completely unseen. He was here, in Japan, a country that held a special place in his heart...and he was missing out on it because he was worrying about something he couldn't change.

Needless to say it was with relief when Donnie finally called a halt at around lunch time. That gloomy ride was starting to drain me.

"What's up?" I asked him as I moved closer.

"Just trying to fine tune our directions a little." He replied, looking at the picture he took of the lightmap.

I walked over to his side and looked at it. The bold outline was obviously of Japan itself, but there were smaller outlines, leading towards the Japanese Alps. Or more accurately, Mt. Ontake which was almost due west of Tokyo.

Donnie was looking at it thoughtfully, his eyes lost in his contemplation.

Leo walked up on his other side. "And? What is the fine tuning telling you?"

"I've...got a hunch." He replied absently, then pointed. "We know this is an active volcano."

"Yay." Raph interrupted as he also joined us, along with the others. "Never said I wanted to get close to one of those."

Mikey grinned at him. "Why? Scared you gonna get your ass set on fire?" He quickly dodged the incoming smack.

Donnie just ignored them and kept up his musing. "And on the north side of Mt. Ontake is a large body of water. Add into the fact that if you go high enough on any elevated surface, you're going to get wind, and the volcano itself is a big pile of earth and rock."

Leo also got that thoughtful look on his face. "All four elements..."

"In one spot." Donnie confirmed. "I'm willing to bet you my goggles we need to get to that volcano, preferably on the north side."

"But where?" I asked them, a little baffled. "As far as I know...there isn't anyplace there worth marking on a tourist brochure. Not that I'm a walking tourist information stand..."

"Which leads me to believe even more that is the right place." Donnie mumbled. "If everything that's happened so far is any indication, whoever is calling us, doesn't _want_ the location to be general knowledge."

Sides' holoform peeked at the map curiously. "Looks like some major off roading going to happen there. This might be fun!"

Bee beeped his agreement and the two high fived as Sunny rolled his eyes. "Idiots."

Hide snorted his agreement to Sunny's statement and Jazz grinned at both grumpy bots.

Prime however was looking thoughtful himself, then looked at Donnie. "I too feel that this is path we must follow."

"Oh?"

"I must admit, I feel something calling out to me as well."

"That's a new twist." Mikey said. "Usually it's us that get these weird tugs and yanks. So far, you guys have just been along for the ride. So...what changed? Why are they tampering with the boss bot now?"

That set of a round of confused looks and shrugs.

Leo sighed. "I guess we'll find out soon enough. And standing around here isn't going to find the answers."

That statement broke our huddle and we all loaded up again. Soon we were rolling out, but we still were no closer to finding out what we were heading towards. Hopefully that was going to change shortly.


	27. Chapter 27

Lavi was...restless. No other way really to describe what she was feeling as she looked out across the distance to the peak rising from the ground in front of her in the distance. It was an eerie sight, the rising clouds coming from the fire mountain shone in the moonlight and they seemed to glow with a magical shimmer as she watched them lazily rise to the heavens.

It had been, as was becoming the norm, a long road trip of a day. And that didn't help her mood any. It's not that she didn't like riding with Jessica and her team, but her mood had been...off since that night Jeff had attacked Cindy. She had felt something through her bond with Ty later that night, and it was something she really wasn't ready to confront yet. The bad thing about sharing feelings with another person was that occasionally they forgot to block certain things out, the end result being that Lavi knew what happened before her parents did. And got a hefty dose of his feelings from it too.

She also knew yelling at him wouldn't do any good. It really wasn't his fault. He didn't know she was emotionally eavesdropping on that very private moment between the two, simply because he was too busy with Cindy to remember that Lavi was there. She supposed Ty would get better at it with time and he would learn to close that door first. And she was very thankful she didn't get any visuals from him. She'd never be able to look him in the eye again without blushing.

But the experience left her with her own...feelings. Feelings she had been trying to suppress. And it didn't help matters in that regard when Ari caught Thane and Jessica making out, and promptly informed everyone about it. While he was chasing her around with a big stick.

All around her, her cousins and brother were openly embracing these new feelings stirring in them. Lavi was still trying to hide hers. Which was why she was out here, on the edge of camp looking out over the landscape.

"You know pretty girl, I'm starting to think you are avoiding me."

Lavi jumped a bit, she had been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed Kyle walking up.

"I guess...I kinda have been." She admitted to him as she turned towards him.

He grinned at her. "Bored with me already?"

"No, of course not." She smiled at him. Then swallowed hard as she noticed how close he was standing. She tried to hide her now slightly trembling hands by crossing her arms. "I'm just...trying to figure some things out is all."

"And I'm assuming it's got to do with me."

Her cheeks flushed a bit, but she didn't deny it.

"You know," Kyle said thoughtfully, looking out towards the volcano "my dad always told me, the best way to deal with your fears is to face them." He turned his brown eyes to her. "Maybe it's time you quit trying to hide behind yours."

Her trembling picked up. Lavi wasn't so sure she could. That other side of her still scared her and she hugged herself tightly as she turned her head away.

Kyle wasn't having none of it and reached out with a gentle hand to turn her to face him again. "I told you before Lavi, it doesn't frighten me. It's time you stopped letting it frighten you." His head came in and he kissed her, the hand that had gently held her face softly trailed down her shoulder and over her arms before he firmly uncrossed them. Then he stepped closer to her so she couldn't bring them back up in that defensive posture again.

She felt that now familiar urge trying to come to the surface and pulled her lips away from him. "Kyle...I..."

"You want me to stop?" He asked her gently. "I will. I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing anything on you."

Lavi looked up into his eyes, her body shaking now. She didn't want him to stop, she didn't want this fear to drive a wedge between them. He had been more than patient with her, and honestly, she was tired of caring for him but being afraid to touch him. This time she was the one who moved in, her lips planting firmly against his as her arms wrapped around his neck. When that feral growl came out of her throat again, she let it. If this relationship was going to go anywhere, she had to learn how to control that primal side. And there was only one way to learn.

She kissed him harder, pushing her body against his as her fingers tangled themselves in his hair. He responded without fear, his hand gently sliding under her shirt and against the skin on her side. That slight touch made a shiver run over her body and her next growl turned into a quiet moan of desire.

That earned her an encouraging smile from him. "See? It's not that bad, is it? You can touch me without turning into a snarling humping monster."

She gave him an incredulous look a moment, then laughed. "Now _that's_ real romantic."

He grinned at her as he backed up. "True though. It's a start anyway. That's all I really wanted you to see."

Her eyeridge shot up and she held onto him tighter. "Oh no, you are not going to get me all worked up then just back out of it. You opened that door, and now we are going to go through it." She pulled him back against her.

" _Hel_ -lo..." He said quietly as his hands settled on her waist. "Getting brave now, aren't you?"

"I'm a ninja turtle, we are all brave."

He smiled a soft smile at her. "Let's just see how brave..." And he came in for another, tender kiss.

They were both so lost in each other that neither one of them noticed the shadow watching not far away. His blue eyes looking on as they filled with tears. He had come out here to talk with his daughter, to try and sooth her fears like he had since she was a child.

Now Leonardo found someone else taking up that task. It was, to him, the final blow. They were now both lost from his parental grip. He had hoped that there was still a place for him in their lives, but he was now firmly being pushed aside. They didn't need him anymore.

He turned away from the pair, his heart heavy and once again feeling his age. They had outgrown him in every way and there was nothing left to hold them to him. He quietly returned to the camp, his mind lost in the past he was dearly missing.

Lavi's Father was the last thing on her mind right now. Her head had leaned back as Kyle brought his lips to her throat, her hands placed on his chest, feeling the play of his muscles underneath the fabric. She was suddenly hit with the desire to feel him and those hands slid down and pulled the hem of his shirt out of his belted waistband of his pants.

He pulled his head away from her and allowed her to lift the shirt over his head and her eyes curiously explored his torso before her hands followed on their own path. Her fingertips lightly brushing over his ripped abs and another low growl coming out of her throat.

"I'm going to take that as a sound of approval." He murmured, his own hands sliding up her arms and around to the back of her neck.

"It was meant to be one." She now nervously replied. Nervous because his fingers had found the tie that held her modified shirt up. Once he untied it, there was nothing that was going to hold it up, since all of her shirts had the backs cut out of them, to make room for her shell. Another fear started to come to the surface as he pulled her shirt away from her and down her arms. The fear of how different their bodies actually were.

He finally pulled the garment away far enough to where he had a clear view of what was underneath. And to her surprise, she didn't find disgust or revulsion in his eyes. Only curiosity as his fingers traced the upper swell of her plastron, then glided his fingers over the plate that curved outward to somewhat resemble a human breast, but was obviously not the tender mass of flesh he was expecting. She started shaking again as he quietly stood there, taking in what had been hidden from him before.

"What's wrong love?" He asked her, his eyes going from her body to her eyes.

"I...I'm scared..." She somehow managed to get out as she returned that gaze.

"Of what? That I might not like what I see?"

She swallowed hard, then nodded.

His quiet laughter sounded in her ears then, not a mocking laugh, but an amused one. "Pretty girl...I knew you would be different. I had no set expectations." His fingers still traced her plastron, familiarizing themselves with the feel of her. "It's who you are. Besides," he smiled at her "I kinda like it. It's so smooth... I bet you save a fortune by not having to buy bras..."

In spite of her fear, that was quickly being washed away, she let out a giggle. "Mine is built in."

She got that boyish grin from him before that mouth went to her body, tracing the outline of her plastron where it met her skin with his lips, and that contact made her breath hitch in her throat before another moan slipped out.

"So...that's the trick. The edges are sensitive."

"J-just...a l-little..."

"Interesting." His fingers joined his lips in their exploration and Lavi was finding it difficult to stand as her legs began to tremble.

She was finding it difficult to breath as his hands moved over her sides and towards the other tie at the bottom of her shirt, that ran along the bottom edge of her shell to hold the lower half in place. It was also untied and the whole thing fell, now ignored, to the ground. The next thing he undid was her weapons belt that was slung low over her hips, and her tonfas dropped to the ground. Then he knelt down in front of her and undid her pants and pulled them out of his way so he could continue his tracing path.

Lavi's fingers dug into his hair as his lips brushed her skin where her plastron met her thigh, a low cry ripped from her throat as her head tilted back. And she squirmed when he brought his hand up, searching, and found the slit. When those fingers began to probe curiously, she shuddered and her legs gave out on her.

He didn't even flinch as he guided her to the ground. "Not so different in that department." Came from the half smile on his lips. "Still very sensitive to the touch." He rubbed a teasing finger gently into that softer section of that slit and she shuddered again, this time with a louder moan. "And very well lubricated. Now...where is the-" He hit a spot in the front of her slit that made her arch violently with a cry. "Ah, found it. It seems, love, all your worries were for nothing. There is nothing here so drastically different that would keep me from wanting to make love to you. Now that we got that all sorted out...I guess we can stop now."

He really wasn't expecting the reaction he got from that, though he supposed he should have. Lavi went from laying squirming on her back to sitting up, then slamming her palms into his chest and forcing him on his back in a heartbeat.

"Don't even think about it." She growled out, her eyes hungry as she began undoing his belt, then yanked his pants open before pulling them out of her way. His boxers got the same rough treatment. He laughed at her eagerness, until he saw the genuine fear on her face as she looked at his hard flesh.

"Take your time Lavi."

That hunger came back into her eyes again as she looked at him. "I...can't..." came out in a shaky growling voice, even as she straddled him. "Can't...control..."

"Then don't love. This is something that doesn't need to be controlled if both are willing. Let that side out, maybe it won't eat at you so hard if you do."

"Kyle...I..." Her body shook as she tried to resist that primal call, but his eyes never left hers, never showed anything but how deep his feelings for her had become.

With a low growl she forced herself down onto him. There was a moan of pain that came from her and he quickly sat up and held her to him as her body still shook. "Easy. That first time is always a little hard."

She just nodded and held onto him as he calmed her. "Now, whenever you are ready, take it slow. Let your body get used to it. Soon enough you won't even feel the pain anymore." She was moving against him before he even finished that statement.

Lavi never felt anything like this before. To feel him inside of her, deep inside of her, caused waves of pleasure unlike anything she ever experienced. She let her primal side guide her as she rode him, those strong arms of his holding her close. Her mouth closed over his in a kiss as her hands again wrapped in his hair. The growls that came from her began to turn into pleasure filled moans with his soft touches. The beast was being tamed, and the young turtle began to enjoy the feelings that were now more pleasure than animalistic need.

"That's it Lavi..." Kyle panted out, his own face twisted with the pleasure she was giving him. "Relax into it... God, love...you feel so good..."

Those words pushed her on and she began to feel something more, something she couldn't explain. "Kyle...I...I..." Her head flew back. "Kyle!"

"Let it carry you turtle dove, give into it."

Kyle felt that she did. She clamped down hard, harder than any partner he had ever been with before has. Her petite frame again hiding the large amount of strength in those muscles. This was a first for him, the sheer pressure of her intensified his own orgasm and his cry rang out with hers in the dark night. Both bodies shuddering violently in the last throes of passion until neither of them had the strength to hold themselves up any more. He held her close to him as they laid there on the ground, their heavy breathing struggling to slow.

It was Lavi who moved first, her head shooting up from his chest as she looked at him with wide eyes.

"What's the matter?"

"You...you called me...love..."

He gave her another amused smile. She was such a delight to him, so fierce and yet also so innocent in a lot of ways. "Of course I did silly. Because I love you."

"Oh...Kyle..." He was honestly wondering how in the world she found the strength to kiss him like that. Then she added bashfully and eyes lowered. "I think I love you too..."

"You think?" His eyebrow came up. "We just went through all of that and all i get is an 'I think'?

"I love you." She said in a firmer voice, blushing a little.

"Well then, I'd say the pet name is a well chosen one." He kissed her forehead.

 _'Sis, I'm happy for you and all but we seriously need to have a talk about closing certain mental doors...'_

Lavi groaned and blushed even more with embarrassment. Go fucking figure...she forgot to shut Ty out...


	28. Chapter 28

I was losing him, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to lose the turtle I had spent the last twenty-one years loving. We had been through so much, fought so many threats together. He had been my anchor, my lifeline, trainer, lover husband and a wonderful father to the twins and my own children. And now, ironically enough, it was those same twins that were pushing him into a severe depression. Just because he couldn't let them go.

He had always been overprotective, but this was more than that. His whole life had been devoted to his family, both before and after my arrival into the picture. Because his family had so much more to lose. They weren't your normal everyday family that you see on every street, city, and rural communities. They were one of a kind, and that uniqueness would cause them to be hunted, ridiculed, threats were thrown their way and more often than not those they have helped shunned away from their appearance those few times it became known. It was more than wanting to protect his family from the various evildoers, he wanted to protect them from a world that just didn't understand who they really were.

And now, that same world seemed to take his children from him. They had been exposed to someone besides their family and close friends, and they dove right in. Made their own friends and even found those who returned a deeper affection. This had grown well past the Ty beating him in training and into the world was beating him. That he couldn't fight against. For the first time in my life...I was watching Leo give up. And it broke my heart.

Still, he kept enough of his old self to focus on the task at hand. And that in itself was admirable in my honest opinion. I knew I wouldn't be able to function if I was facing what he was. But I wasn't. Unlike him, I could walk freely in this world. I didn't have those fears he did, though I did sympathize with why he had them. It was also my humanness that was letting me embrace what was unfolding in front of my children. I understood both sides of this fence, that didn't mean I wanted what I was seeing now. I severely wished Leo could look past his years of experience to see things the way the children saw them, but he couldn't. It had been so deeply ingrained into him, I don't think he could let that Father role go. Because to him it was more than just raising a child. It was protecting his species. The only thing I could do was hope that something would bring him around again.

But now, I was trying to keep from falling off of this damn volcano. The rock I was gripping suddenly gave way from the slope and I started to tumble down, fingers digging into the loose earth as I slid downward on my stomach. I could see Leo above me as he scrambled to try and get to me, but I knew he wasn't going to make it.

It was when I was passing Donnie that I noticed the light. Even as I slipped right by him, that glow from his pouch could be seen. Not as bright as Mikey's but still there. Then I slammed to a halt on a ledge that seemed to spit out of the side of the mountain. I was shaking as I stared at it. In part because I had come close to a very nasty fall, and also in part because I was damn certain that fucking ledge hadn't been there when I climbed up. Yup, creepiness factor was still in high gear.

Leo hit the ledge a moment later and for the moment, his depression seemed wiped from him as he looked at me with concern. "Are you hurt?"

"No Leo, I'm fine." Pysically anyway. I was shaking when he helped me to my feet.

"Ya gotta be careful' Vic." Jazz politely informed me. "Slope is a bit slippery."

"You don't say?" I grumbled at him as I once again followed Leo up. "But then, we are the only idiots that would try to climb this without any mountain gear! Shuko spike obviously aren't cutting it."

"And here I was thinking Cris was the grumpy one at high elevations." Mikey ruefully told Raph.

I glared at him a moment, then threw a rock at him and it bounced off of his head. The only reason I got that lucky hit in was because the slope was to precarious for him to try and dodge out of the way.

"Ow!"

"One of these days you will learn to keep your trap shut." Raph muttered as he climbed past his brother, helping a very pale Cris along. I did have time to notice that she absolutely refused to look down.

Will's troops seemed to have an easier time of it. But then, _he_ had been smart enough to bring the proper gear for them. And the Bots themselves just dug their fingers straight into the rock to get their holds. Us ninjas were reduced to scrambling up and hoping not to set off a damn landslide. Sometimes my life sucked. This was one of those times.

And to make matters worse, we still had no friggin idea where in the hell we were going. Nothing was here. No buildings, caves, not even a damn signpost. There was nothing but volcano spread out around us and those darn clouds over us. If we go much higher we were going to start breathing that shit in. Really wasn't looking forward to that.

To say we were surprised to find a very large ledge not much farther up was an understatement. Donnie hung there, by his elbows as he checked every map and satellite image he could of this peak. But not one of them showed this particular ledge. He finally gave up when he was the last one dangling off of the side. "Something tells me that this is the place." He grumbled as he stomped over to us. "Fits in with the rest of the shit that doesn't make sense."

As if those words seemed to throw gas on that mysterious fire, their pouches began to glow again. All of them. Leo's expression was a combination of curiosity and wariness as he pulled that shining blue saphire out and held it flat in his palm. On an impulse, the others pulled out theirs and when they were all in the open, a beam of light shot from each gem. All of them heading towards one section of the slope to where they combined right before they hit the rock.

At least, we thought it was rock. We were wrong...again. That solid seeming surface wavered a moment like someone dropped a rock in a calm pool. The rings rippled outward from those beams in wider and wider circles before a large section just seemed to shimmer, and vanish. What was behind it was a tall, wide set of double doors, carved in ancient Japanese style art and a sun blazing brightly in the precise center where the doors met. That part was pretty enough, don't get me wrong, but what made my throat go dry was the fact that they were made from gold.

"That might be one reason on why they don't want anyone to find the place." Dennis mumbled to me in awe.

I just nodded like a big dumbstruck dummy.

The beams didn't stop there though. Even as the last flickers of the illusion vanished, the beam hit the door and they slowly opened to reveal a cave. A cave that was already conveniently lit so we wouldn't stumble our way over our own two feet.

Well, I had assumed we would be going with them. I tried to follow Leo in and something was obviously blocking my way if my faceplant into the unseen wall was any indication. I sat on the ground, blinking up at him in confusion as I rubbed my now sore nose.

"Now you know how we felt trying to go into those towns." Epps grumbled as he looked down at me.

"Oh...shut up."

"The calling has been meant for the gem holders only!" A voice boomed from out of the cave. It wasn't the same voice that had talked to us earlier. "None other than them shall be permitted besides the leader of the mechanical men!"

 _That_ didn't go over well. Leo immediately bristled like a pissed cat and stepped right back out and helped me to my feet. Then he turned to the opening and crossed his arms. "Fine! _You_ come out _here_ then. We've been targeted twice by these...things, and not to mention the Cons paid us a visit. I am not leaving my family exposed out here. You want us? They come too." He narrowed his eyes. " _All_ of them. Soldiers also."

"You insolent mortal! You _dare_ dictate to me what to allow? They are not wanted here!"

"Uh oh." Mikey muttered. "That doesn't sound good."

I was starting to get nervous myself now. Anything that started calling other creature 'mortals' was something not to tangle with. Unless you were Leo, and he wasn't budging.

"It is a reasonable request." The familiar voice spoke up then. Now that we were closer to the source, I could definitely tell that it was a female's voice. "He merely shows concern for his family and comrades. It would be selfish of us to not grant his request."

"The mortals defile our sanctuary as it is! Must we let more inside?"

"Enough!" The female voice snapped. "If this is what must be done to appease him, then so be it!" We all winced at that tone. She obviously was the one in charge here. "Come my champion, and bring your companions and comrades. All shall be allowed inside."

Only when he heard those words did Leo walk back in again, this time holding my hand. And he slowed down to make sure I wasn't going to do another invisible wall faceplant. Shit...the last one still hurt. I was half expecting my nose to be broken and I kept rubbing it to make sure it wasn't. "Stupid, pain in my ass invisible doors." I grumbled as we made our way deeper into the cave."

"Wouldn't that be pain in the nose invisible doors?" Mikey asked with a wide grin.

"Ok, that's it!" I pulled out an asp and I was seriously trying to hit him with it while Leo still held my other hand.

Amy watched with a very amused expression as Mikey danced around my one armed and Leo hindered swings as I tried to whack him, then looked at April. "I am sure we are making a very good first impression to whoever is in here."

April nodded her agreement as she tried not to laugh.

I'm guessing Leo had enough of my antics by the way he yanked me next to him and glared at Mikey to settle down. I didn't pay him any attention, I was in a bad mood and I seriously wanted to take it out on Mikey's head. And in doing so I completely missed the fact that we were out of the tunnel and standing in a large chamber. Leo brought it to my attention by firmly turning me around, and my eyes grew wide.

Ok, I take that back. It wasn't large, it was huge. A big room with more gold lined along the walls and more of those sun emblems carved into it. But that wasn't all that was here. In each corner of the room a large flat bowl was set. Each easily big enough to where Raph could lay in it, stretch out his arms and legs spread eagle, and he'd still have room. One held a mound of dirt and rocks, another had a fire burning in it, a third was full with water so pure and clear I was getting thirsty just looking at it. The last you couldn't see what was in it, but the flames were flickering wildly from the torches that were along the wall in that section. I bet if you put a leaf in there, it would go swirling around on that unseen air current.

But what held our eyes were the five individuals standing in the middle of the room, four men and one woman. The men were flanking the woman with two on either side, and all of Asian origin by the looks of them.

The woman stepped forward then, a gentle smile on her face. "Welcome all. We have been waiting for your arrival."

Leo's eyes narrowed a bit, obviously not trusting her. "And who might you be exactly, besides the woman who has been leading us around by our noses?"

She didn't back down from that glare, but she did stop her advancement. "My noble champion, the need for that has passed, and I may now reveal my identity to you. I am Amaterasu, also known as the Goddess of the Sun."

We all just stared at her like she was crazy. She had to be crazy. Was she crazy?

"Ok! That's it!" Raph flared. "Let me off of this crazy train right the fuck now! I'm leaving!" He turned to stomp back out, and promptly was lifted into the air, by apparently nothing at all, and set back down next to Leo. He blinked a few times at that.

"You do not have to believe, but I do ask that you listen to my words, for I fear we are all in grave danger. And if I can not persuade you, then everything we love here will be lost."

We all looked stupefied at each other. How could you say no to that?


	29. Chapter 29

Leo almost immediately lost his mistrust of her, just because of a few words she just said. 'Everything we love will be lost.' That simple statement did more to snap him out of this depression that had been plaguing him these past few weeks than anything else could. It was also her calm presence that soothed him further. He could actually feel that she didn't mean them any harm. "All right, you have our attention. Now would you care to elaborate?"

"As if mere mortals could understand." The man in red said behind her. It was also the same voice that had rubbed Leo the wrong way outside already. With this one Leo could feel the underlying hostility aimed towards him.

"I really don't care for your tone." Leo told him, his gaze not backing down from the poorly hidden glare.

"You were not brought here to like my tone, creature. You were brought here to do our bidding."

Leo decided that the dislike between them was mutual. He didn't like this pompous ass either. "We do noone's bidding." Was his firm reply.

"You will do as we tell you!"

"You want to take a bet on that?" Leo crossed his arms.

From the fire bowl in the far corner came an irritably amused snort and the red clad man looked over at it in annoyance. "Be still spirit! You're presence is only tolerated because it is also needed!" There were a few growling noises that came from the bowl, then it was still.

Leo and his brothers exchanged a long look over that interaction.

Amaterasu's eyes flashed with mild anger before she turned to the man behind her. "Kagu-tsuschi, I quickly grow tired of your bickering. Have you not learned yet that they must willingly submit or all our efforts will be in vain? I begin to wonder if your godhood given immortality is also interfering with your good reason."

Mikey leaned in close to Raph. "Dude...their speech is confusing me...did she just insult him?"

Raph crossed his arms with a wide grin as he looked at the man. "Yup."

Mikey grinned along with him. "I like her already."

Amaterasu smiled at him a moment as Leo quieted them both with a glare. Then he looked back at the goddess in front of him. "Ok, for the sake of the argument, and so we can all move on here, let's just assume you are all gods. You obviously pulled some strings to get us here, so there is nothing really to deny that proof. And it's also obvious that you need our help for something. Now," He glared at Kagu-tsuchi a moment "would you care and try giving us an explanation again? Because I really need a good reason not to beat the living, immortal shit out of you for controlling our wives like puppets." That last part came out in an angry growl as he stared them all down.

He felt Vicky's hand slide into his as she moved closer to him. "Leo...insulting them, if they are gods, might not be the best idea."

"I wasn't insulting them. I was just giving them a fair warning what is about to happen if I don't get some answers."

"I may join in that myself." Hide agreed with an angry rumble.

She facepalmed.

Amaterasu's face grew serious then, even grave as she looked over the gathered group. Then her eyes settled on the Autobot leader as he patiently waited. "I know what you fear gentle one. The first stirrings of it stirred within you the night you discovered the dark energon. It pains me to inform you that those fears are valid and the legends are not legends after all. The one you fear most, comes even now."

Prime's eyes grew wide as the words hit him. "Unicron..."

She nodded slowly. "The Lord of Chaos."

There was a thud behind them and Leo turned to look, to find Cris had passed out on the floor.

"Cris!" Raph was by her side in an instant, and even Leo quickly moved to her. Both turtles kneeling down even as Donnie came over to make sure she wasn't hurt.

It was the concern for her that blinded him to what was coming from Vicky. A terrified fear. He looked back up to her to find her shaking violently and almost ready to faint herself. He quickly grabbed her hand and guided her to the floor before she did, and she clung to him, shaking.

"That...has never happened before." Raph said mystified as he watched Donnie work. "She's never fainted from fright..."

"She's got a right to be scared Raph." Dennis said in a shaky voice. "Unicron..." He shook his head in disbelief. "Even after everything we've already seen...I still wasn't expecting this..."

"Who the fuck is this unicorn guy?!" Raph asked in frustration.

"Unicron." Donnie corrected even as Cris started to come back around.

"Whatever!"

Even the Autobots were standing in surprised shock at this information. It took a long while for Hide to snap out of it enough to where he could answer a rapidly getting pissed Raph. "He is the opposite of Primus."

"Say what now?"

Cris was shaking as she sat up. "That is a great simplification of him Hide."

"Long explanations waste time." He shrugged.

"He is the embodiment of everything Primus is not." Amaterasu clarified. "Death, destruction, chaos. Where primus values order and life."

"And he's the size of a fucking planet!" Vicky added. "Let's not forget that little tidbit."

"Not quite so large as most, but immense none the same."

"Well excuse me if I was a mile or two off." Vicky sarcastically shot back. "Let me get this straight, Unicron is coming, and you call them here, pester them with dreams and visions of his arrival, and you expect the guys to _fight_ this overgrown shit factory?! He's out in space!"

"No, gentle companion, that is not the entire reason. The descendant of the Primes is given the chore to bring the Chaos Bringer low. But not even mighty Unicron fights alone. Even as ancient Primus has delegated members of the cybertronians to watch and defend against his return, Unicron himself has his agents who spread his destruction. His heralds. They sow the seeds of destruction before the arrival of their master. Making his task of world destruction easier by bringing the defenses of the planet low. By the time they are done, there is nothing left to withstand the ultimate fate Unicron will impose onto what remains. Even now they come, if they do not already walk upon the face of our gentle home, minor forms have already descended and have met their end. It is those beings who need to be brought down, so the descendant of the Primes may focus on his own herculean task."

Cris groaned as she dropped her face into her hands. "Can I please just faint again and wake up when the bad news ends?"

Leo was feeling the same way Cris was, frustrated and a little overwhelmed. And Vicky's added fear wasn't helping. "And how exactly do you expect us to do that? Last time I checked, we really aren't any match for a planet eating Bot, or his cronies we've come up against so far. And something tells me that they are just going to get bigger and badder."

"They shall. That you are correct on assuming. What you have seen so far is nothing compared to what shall come soon. He has his own champions. Four beings he took and stripped them of who they had once been, conforming them to meet his needs. No more are they free thinking individuals, but pawns of their master and will do whatever he commands them to do, and he commands the apocalypse."

"The four horsemen." Donnie mumbled, then shook his head. "I thought that was just a bible story."

"It's not the first time our histories have collided." Hide reminded him. "It very well may be that some of our legends have been transferred to your religion."

"That's going to upset a lot of folks in the religion community." Donnie grumbled back.

Hide just shrugged. "Not my fault."

"These mule riders have names?" Mikey asked curiously.

"War, Conquest, Famine and Death." Donnie replied.

Hide looked at him curiously. "Interesting, in our legends it is War, Pestilence, Famine and Death."

"Well...I guess you could conquer something by pestilenceing the heck out of it." Donnie rubbed the back of his head.

Mikey chuckled. "Dude...is that even a word?"

"It is now."

"We waste time with this foolishness! They sit here and discuss tales from long past even as the Dark One comes ever closer!" Kagu-Tsuchi crossed his arms in anger as he looked on with contempt.

"It helps them understand." Amaterasu calmly replied. "This they need to do so they can better comprehend the task we have just laid upon them."

"You still didn't answer my question." Leo said. "How do you expect us to fight something like that? We couldn't even keep the smaller ones down."

"I suppose I could build a big gun." Donnie said wryly.

"Yay! Big guns! Oh! Maybe she'll turn us into big Autobots! Just call me Mikeyabot, the ninja robot that transforms into a large turtle!" Mikey chirped and Raph facepalmed that time.

Leo looked at all of them with slight annoyance, wishing they would be quiet for five minutes.

Amaterasu wasn't so annoyed with it though it seemed. Her eyes were sparkling with amusement as a slight smile formed on her lips. "No. That is not what I wish to do, though you would make an impressive Cybertronian."

"Not very likely. Not sure a large metal turtle would be very intimidating." Sunny grumbled and Sides snickered.

"With orange flames for a paintjob! Ever seen a turtle with orange flames!"

"Will you quit already!" Leo finally snapped at his little brother before addressing Amaterasu again. "What did you have in mind then?"

She looked at him quietly a long while, then sighed quietly as she looked at her now somewhat antsy companions around her. Her face turned back to him when she got the reluctant looks of agreement from them. "There are other legends that are more than just tales to be told to children. Some of these hold great power, more than he stories lead you to believe. I wish to give you this power, but it will change you. Once given, it can not be taken away. That fact alone comes with a price." She glared at her companions this time, her eyes very angry with them. "A price I may add, I did not wished forced against you."

"My decision stands firm Amaterasu." Kagu-Tsuchi narrowed his eyes. "Mortals can not be trusted with this. They will be corrupted by it and will seek to rise above themselves once the task is done."

"I do not think so." She replied firmly. "Not these mortals. But I have no time to enter long negotiations with you. The price, my champions, is that you will depart from this world to dwell in the land of the spirits."

"No!" Vicky snapped. "What kind of bargain is that? You ask them to come here to fight...whatever...and their reward is to die? Are you serious?"

Amaterasu winced a little. "Not die. I would not take their life from them. But it has been agreed, by vote, that if they succeed they can not dwell here on this mortal plane. They will live on, in a plane where their new powers will not be so unusual. It will actually be very common there."

"No!" Vicky was trembling in anger now. "I won't let you do that!"

"Then everything here is lost. For I can not gain the co-operation of these gods without that agreement." She looked sadly on as Vicky started crying. "Though, I never wanted this. I have watched them for a very long time and see no need for it."

"I do." Kagu-Tsuchi firmly replied, unshaken by the fact that Vicky was now crying in Leo's arms as he tried to calm her, and similar reactions were happening with his brother's wives.

Leo didn't like it either. The thought of living on without her... It almost broke his resolve. He wouldn't be there with them, but they would have a chance to live on. Lavi and Ty would live on, be able to form their own strong bonds with their mates. All of them, plus countless others, would continue with their life in a world that wouldn't be torn apart.

"Daddy...no..." Lavi whispered as she read his expression, and what he was thinking. "Don't..."

"I'm sorry turtle dove." He looked at her, and saw the tears in her eyes. "If this is what has to be done, I agree to it." He gave her and the other three children he raised a sad look as Ty, Dennis and Amy hovered around a now crying Lavi. "At least I can go knowing I did what I could for you, all of you."

He gently removed Vicky from his arms and handed her to Dennis then approached the Goddess, noticing as he did that his brothers had also passed their upset wives to their just as bad off children and approached with him. "Do it."


	30. Chapter 30

Leo had to shut Vicky out. Her anguish, fear and sadness was too much for him to bear. But it had to be done. If he wanted to save everything he held dear, he had no choice.

"Do you not wish to learn more of what I will give you?" Amaterasu asked slightly surprised at his quick agreement.

"Tell me later." He replied quietly. "The quicker we get this done, the quicker we can all accept it." He closed his eyes as a particularly strong wave from Vicky hit against him. "As it is, I'm having a hard time keeping my resolve up."

Her eyes flickered over to Vicky a moment and nodded in understanding. "Very well." She turned to the other gods. "Is all in readiness?"

The blue clad one spoke up for the first time. "It is Amaterasu."

"Then let us begin Watatsumi."

He gave a curt nod and approached Leo. His face a combination of determination and a hint of awe. "Never before have I seen one such as you. I must admit, I am not so sure I share Kagu-tsuchi's disdain for you."

Leo raised an eyeridge at him. "But not sure enough to keep from ripping me from my family after all is said and done."

He fliched a little at that. Good, at least he felt guilty about it. Leo wanted him to feel guilty about it. It was a shitty deal over all. "I understand why Amaterasu chose you. You do have a noble spirit, even I can see that. But mortals lately have corrupted themselves with any power given to them. So much war and strife fill this planet because of it. It is a valid concern of ours."

"So you just decide to throw us right into the same boat as the rest of them. Regardless that we have fought against some of those corrupt mortals. Fought against some of the worse of them. But hey, to you we are all the same." Leo shook his head. "Just get this over with. And I want you to firmly remember, I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for my family you plan on tearing apart and for countless others who don't even deserve to die. I don't give a damn what you think of me, god of the sea."

"You know of me?"

"Japanese lore used to be a hobby of mine, your name pops up in it. To bad I spent my time reading up on things that I see now didn't even deserve my attention."

Watatsumi flinched again, then let out a small sigh as the first hints of doubt began to flicker on his face.

Their conversation was cut off by the fact the goddess began to glow a soft white light. As she did, Leo felt movement from his pouch and his sapphire lifted to float in front of him, even as the same happened to his brother's gems. "Sprits! Come forth!" Her voice commanded and the four bowls in the corners of the room began to shake as soon as those words left her lips.

Then, to the shock of everyone here who wasn't a god, the element that was found in each bowl began to rise up into a column before those strands lowered themselves to the floor and seemed to snake their way across the floor like large serpents. Fire made it's way to Raph, even as a small wind tunnel approached Mikey, who was staring back at it with curiosity. The pillar of earth traveled to Donnie, who looked at it as if he was trying to figure out what was holding it together as it did.

Leo was the destination of the water pillar and as it drew closer, he could make out what appeared to be yellows eyes that calmly studied him as it approached. He also noticed that it wasn't quite snakelike after all, just a long snakelike body that was being supported by four legs.

It wrapped it's body around him in a few loose coils before the large head came to a stop in front of Leo's. "You and your brothers are indeed worthy." A strange voice sounded from it, quietly filling the space in front of Leo's head. "It will be an honor to aid you in what is to come. Do not fear me, for I mean neither you, nor your family any harm. I am Mizuchi."

"A river spirit, with a bad reputation."

"At one time, yes." Came the amused acknowledgement. "But no more. I freely follow Amaterasu now and protect the lives I have once poisoned. And have found my life filled with a greater sense of purpose now that I do so."

Leo just nodded at him. Not the first time he's dealt with bad guys who had a change of heart.

"I must merge your life force with these spirits, to better prepare your bodies to receive the gift. Do not be alarmed at what transpires for it will seem strange to you, and there will be some discomfort."

"Oh thanks lady." Raph grumbled at her. " _That's_ really assuring to know."

She didn't answer as her glow brightened, then four beams shot from her upheld hand and hit each gem, passed through them and split again. Connecting each turtle and each spirit to the gem. Then another connected between Leo and Mizuchi, who just calmly watched and waited.

Leo closed his eyes and shuddered violently at the sense of intrusion that seemed to wash over him. He instinctively tried to push it back out again.

 _'Calm yourself waterwalker.'_ Mizuchi's voice echoed in his head now. _'It is I who enters your material form. It is a necessary step, but I will not permanently reside here. I am merely opening the door for the power to flow into you that will come soon. And to do that, I need to take a part of you with me.'_

Leo had to fight down those instincts very hard to allow the spirit entry into his body, and he was shaking from the effort of it. But true to his word, the spirit didn't stay. But he did feel a piece of him go with the spirit as he withdrew again, and felt that smaller piece merge completely with Mizuchi before the gem in front of him began to glow brightly on it's own.

"It is done mistress." The fire coils around Raph told Amaterasu.

"I understand Futsu, then we may proceed to the next step. Gods of the elements, now is the time for your part of the task. Brace yourselves champions, this will be more than discomfort."

The gods didn't answer, but instead reached out to the gems and held them as they still floated. As soon as Watatsumi's fingers closed around it, a large column of water reached upwards from that hand. Amaterasu reached out with her other hand that wasn't holding out those beams of light and pushed the tops of those columns together. The result from that was a bright flash that made everyone watching cover their eyes. And in them doing so missed the fifth set of coils that formed at the connection point. This one made out of pure light as it glowed brightly in the room.

The head of those shining coils looked calmly at each turtle before turning it's head to Amaterasu, who just smiled and nodded back at it. It nodded in return and pulled the columns from the gods into it, seeming to fuse them with it's own power before they shot back out again, and into the chest of each turtle.

Leo bit back the scream of pain as the now glowing water surged into him. His fists clenched tight enough to cause his whole arm to shake as the agony rippled throughout his body. His teeth ground down hard enough that he was sure a few of them would break from the strain. Then just as sudden as the pain hit, it was gone. He opened eyes he didn't know he had even closed as his struggled to calm his breathing down. It took him a few moments to notice that all the magical lights had dimmed and the cavern seemed so dark to him now despite the numerous torches.

Mizuchi had also tightened his coils to where he was supporting the shaken turtle up, otherwise Leo was sure he'd find himself on the floor. "It is done now. The pain is past waterwalker."

Watatsumi walked closer and handed Leo's trembling hand the sapphire. "This is the vessel that will house the spirit, he will now forever be by your side. Do not let your companion or any of your children touch it, for they are not allowed. Only the elemental walkers and the gods binded to them may handle the gems. But, the other walkers may hold yours and you theirs. This may be needed if the event should arise that our presence is required and one of you can not summon us."

"Oh? Don't trust us so we need a leash?"

"No, that is not the reason regardless of what you think of us. Even this power has limitations, and if you push past them you will drain your life force. We can activate the gem to reach the portion of you locked inside to infuse it back into you to sustain you. This was Amaterasu's amendment for us placing restrictions and terms on you." He looked at Leo a little sadly. "Once we would have given this without any restrictions, but humanity in general is losing our trust to do so now. Even for you and your kin."

"Foolish restrictions." Mizuchi growled out. "And idiotic terms. One wonders if it is the lack of trust in humanity, or the lack of humanity that is rapidly growing in the gods."

Watatsumi didn't answer, but quietly stepped away to join the other gods in the center of the room again.

"Leo?"

He turned his head to see Vicky walking carefully towards him, eyeing the talking column of water warily.

Mizuchi tilted his head curiously at her approach. "Come closer, water companion. I shall not harm you."

She looked wide eyed at the spirit, but did come closer. Mizuchi even lowered his supporting coils enough to where she could reach out to Leo, tentatively taking his hand in hers. Leo smiled a little at her expression even as his hand firmly wrapped around hers. "He is a bit to take in, isn't he?"

She just dumbly nodded, but her other hand reached out towards that head, and Mizuchi lowered it. Vicky's palm rested on that long snout like structure and her eyes filled with wonder as it didn't slip inside that watery shape, but rested firmly on it. She looked at Leo in confusion and he shrugged, not sure what to tell her.

Mizuchi gave out a rumbling chuckling noise at her befuddled look. "I can make my form as solid or as fluid as I wish. Getting you both wet would serve no purpose at the moment, so I wish it solid."

Finally she let out a warm smile. A welcome sight on her tear streaked face. "You seem nice enough. I think I like you."

"That would be a good thing, for your companion is now bound with me."

"At least...he'll have someone to watch over him when...when..." She couldn't finish that thought as fresh tears welled up in her eyes.

Leo quickly pulled her over those water coils and into his arms. His eyes closed as he tried to fight back his own emotions.

Neither one of them saw Mizuchi's eyes narrow in anger before he looked at the other spirits. He met three sets of yellow eyes that were echoing his own thoughts at that moment. They were all in agreement. This was not right.

Before any of them could bring the subject up however, Amaterasu spoke again in a weary voice. "Unicron thrives on chaos, as does his heralds. We have given you the power of balance to combat it. The balance of the elements, a life giving force. For without these elements working together, the fire that molds the rocks and earth, the waters to cool it and sustain the organisms that grow and the winds to spread the seeds to barren lands, life would not be possible here. You four share that same balance in your group, and this is why you have been chosen."

"Does that mean I have wind powers!" Mikey excitedly asked, then held out his hand. "Blow!" He looked disappointed when nothing happened.

Amaterasu actually laughed. "That is not how to bring it forth windwalker. You carry the power now inside you, but you must undergo a critical step to reach it."

"I think it's time you filled us in then." Donnie told her. "Because it's not going to do us much good if we have them but can't use them."

She only had time to nod her agreement before the whole cavern began to shake, violently. The gold molding along the wall began to crack and break away in pieces as those tremors picked up.

Amaterasu spun to the brown clad god, her eyes furious. "Nai-No-Kami! This is not the time!"

"It is not I Amaterasu! Another outside forces the earth to quake!"

Immediately she adjusted her focus from him to the group gathered in the room. "Quickly! All of you must leave! This cavern is no longer safe!"

"But...what about-" Mikey tried to ask.

"You will find out soon enough windwalker, but I do not have the time to teach you. Not anymore. Go now!"

Leo was already pulling Vicky out of the protective coils of the spirit, but before he could run out of the room he found his way blocked by that watery tail as Mizuchi again brought his head around to face him. "When the time comes, reach deep inside of yourself. When the need is great enough, you will know what to do." Then his watery form turned into mist before it flowed into the gem Leo still held in his hand.

Leo had just enough time to tuck it back into his pouch before he once again began dragging Vicky out of the cavern and out towards whatever was trying to bring the roof down on their heads. The growl of anger that came from his throat was far deeper than anything he had ever sounded out before, but it was lost in the general commotion going on around him. Mizuchi, now tucked away in that tiny gem, heard it however and his long snout sported a knowing grin. No, it wouldn't take them long at all. This group would learn very quickly. Oh yes, they were in deed worthy. Amaterasu had placed her trust in the right ones, he was confident of that.


	31. Chapter 31

It took them an instant to figure out what was going on outside once they left the cave, and Leo was more annoyed than angry right now as his eyes settled on someone he really didn't feel like dealing with at the moment.

"Prime!" Megatron roared at the Autobot leader from where he was perched on the next peak over. "I know you found the items of power! I want them! Then I will destroy Unicron myself!"

Raph just glared at him in astonishment. "He is sooo well informed...and yet he doesn't have a fucking clue... How did he even know anyway?"

"Because I told him, freak."

They all spun around to see Jeff of all people. His eyes glaring at them through the severely bruised face. Leo raised an eyeridge as he smiled with pride. Ty does good work. But what caught his attention, was the fact that he was sitting on top of a large...robot bug? They have bugs? And it was firmly entrenched on the side of the cliff.

"Insecticon!" Cris snapped the answer to his unspoken question. "It was probably them that was causing the quakes inside, because they were trying to dig their way in."

"Oh...aren't you the smart one. But yet not smart enough to figure out I was feeding the Cons information this whole time. Why do you think they never attacked you? They _wanted_ you to find the objects, so they could take them from you. I even filled them in on the Jetfire flight. They had hoped to take it from you then already."

"They look like dung beetles." Mikey proclaimed, eyeballing the large creature.

Epps sighed in frustration. "Jeff, I knew you had issues, but this is low even for you."

"What's in the deal for you?" Will asked, crossing his arms.

"Simple." Came the evil grin reply. "I get Cindy."

"The hell you will!" Ty snapped at him even as he placed Cindy protectively behind him.

"You don't have a say in the matter turtle boy." Jeff smirked at him as a few more bugbots came around the cliff face above them. "I get her, or you all go rolling down the cliff."

Hide snarled at him and spun to take aim at the threats rapidly closing in from above.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Hide. That ledge looks very unstable. On stray shot, or a large boulder, could send all of you tumbling down prematurely. Especially since my freinds here weakened the support to it." His eyes narrowed. "Hand me the gems, and Cindy, now."

"No." Ty spat back at him. Lavi had by now placed herself next to her brother and both of them glared at the man as they stood between him and Cindy.

"Well, I guess I'll have to persuade you another way. Hardshell, would you do the honors? Start with those two, maybe the rest will get the point."

The Insecticon made a chittering sound, then suddenly the ground gave way under the twins and Cindy. They had just enough time to push the red haired woman out of harms way and into the arms of Raph who was already fast approaching. But none of them were quick enough, not even Leo who was trying so desperately to reach them, and they slipped from view, falling into the empty space below.

Leo didn't hear Jeff's laughter, he didn't hear Megatron demand the gems again. He also didn't hear the startled shouts and cries of those around him. His attention was solely focused on that spot where his children disappeared.

He didn't slow when he reached the edge, but followed a silent prompt and stepped off and followed the twins down. Headfirst he fell, his arms reaching out for them even as he knew he wouldn't reach them. Not this way. Leo had feared they wouldn't need him anymore, that they outgrew him and he couldn't protect them. That was not the case, not anymore. He closed his eyes, reaching inside of himself towards that silent call that was pleading for him to hear. He connected with it, and when his angry eyes opened they were blazing with his inner fire. But also with something more. He could see the shock on the faces of the twins as those eyes began to glow a bright blue, then the rest of him. And their eyes grew even wider when the true extent of the power he had been given showed itself.

.

.

"You son of a bitch!" I screamed at Jeff, tears running down my face. My whole body was shaking as I glared at the man who just took my children from me, and my husband who had followed them over trying to save them. He was alive, that I could feel, but I knew any moment now that bond would come to a crashing end...and there was nothing I could do about it.

In a white rage I stormed over even as two more Insecticons crawled over the new edge they had just made.

"Vicky! Stop it!" Donnie grabbed me and pulled me back out of the way of those monsters, and I fought with him every step. "This isn't what Leo would want!"

"Leo..." I spun and collapsed against him, crying as I waited for that snap to happen in my head. And when it did, it wasn't what I was expecting. It wasn't a firm break, but a gentle closing of the door. I could still sense he was alive, but I couldn't feel him anymore. It was like the time I couldn't see his nightmare, something gently kept me away. This wasn't what his death would feel like...and hope began to fill me as I looked over towards the edge again.

The same time that happened, a bright blue glow was coming up over that edge. And it grew even brighter as a loud roar came from below. A roar of anger, and at the same time triumphant. A roar that was rapidly approaching.

Then, like a blue sun blazing, what burst up from below staggered the mind as we all gaped at it. My legs actually gave out at what I was seeing.

It was huge. If you stretched it out in a baseball field the snout could touch home plate as the tail tip reached the centerfield wall. The wings alone, green on the supporting frame while the membranes themselves were blue, could shade a fair amount of seats in the same stadium. The body was long, but very well muscled and was also green, Leo's green. The armoured under neck and belly was the same beige as his plastron. Powerful hind legs firmly dug into the side of the mountain as the massive thing landed and a clawed forepaw added to the support as it hung there. The long tail was thrashing violently as large, angry, ice blue eyes glared at Jeff from under reptilian brows. Eyes that were surrounded by blue scales that wrapped over the bridge of the snout and the pattern curved backwards and also colored the two graceful horns that flowed from the back of it's head. In the other paw, held protectively close to it's massive chest, were Ty and Lavi who looked very shaken and were holding onto each other. With a loud roar, the large head turned towards the two Insecticons on the ledge with us and a blast of fire came out of that mouth and swept them off. Then it carefully placed Ty and Lavi down, and they collapsed in the same shock I was feeling.

"It's Father..." Ty said in a breathless voice. "He's...a...

"Dragon..." I finished in wonder. "He's a dragon..."

Leo's wings flared out with another roar and he took to the skies, circling around again and headed towards the Insecticons above us. I couldn't shake the wonder I was still feeling as I watched him.

"Well now!" Mikey shook himself out of his stupor. "This should even the odds a bit, right Jeff?" Then without even hesitating, he ran off the edge of the cliff himself. We all scrambled to the edge and watched as he was surrounded by an orange glow, then shimmered into a slightly smaller version of Leo, except his eyeband, horns and wing membranes were orange. He let out a happy roar of excitement, and promptly smashed face first into the cliff when he tried to try his wings out and went tumbling down. Shaking the whole side of the mountain as he went.

Raph and Donnie exchanged their own boyish and excited grins, completely ignoring their bumbling dragon brother.

"You want the gems Meganuts?" Raph called out. "You're about to get them! But not the way you thought!" And they both leapt off themselves, and soon there were four dragons. Raph and Donnie easily glided away from the mountain and began their upward climb,

Leo crashed into the cliff above us, furiously digging his jaws and claws into the Insecticons that were now trying to scramble away. One lost it's grip and began to tumble down towards us, but his massive tail came around and crashed into it and sparks flew as the tail dented the frame before sending it flying far out away from the mountain. It went so far that when it finally hit, there was just a teeny puff of smoke to tell you where it landed.

"Ho-ly shit..." Cris breathed, then looked back up at Leo.

Then we all went to our butts and knees as the ledge finally gave way under us and we rode it down. The screaming just started when that ledge just as suddenly stopped, because Donnie was holding it up with Raph even as Mikey came shooting up from below, his wings tucked in slightly for speed.

Donnie's large head looked us all over a moment before he turned his attention to the mountain, his eyes glowed purple a moment and soon another ledge came ripping out of the mountain side, bigger and stronger than the previous one, and it easily held us up when he and Raph let their grips go. Then they flew upwards.

Raph flew the highest and towards the top, dipped inside the crater and came out with fire swirling around him before he came back down, and began sending massive fireballs from his inventory at various Insecticons.

Mikey passed some and when he did a massive gust of wind came with him and blew more than a few off the mountainside. Donnie finished those off by slamming large boulders the size of houses into them.

Leo flew downward after he dismembered the group he had been working on, his eyes searching intently, then hovered when he found what he was looking for. Moments later a part of the mountainside blew out as a large amount of water came out of the hole and he turned and redirected it towards the Insecticons that were dumb enough to come for us.

Even Sides and Sunny were struck speechless as they watched the carnage taking place around them. And Hide wasn't much better. Bee was cheering wildly as Jolt, Prime and Jazz quietly watched.

The humans of the group were trembling in awe as dragon fire, elements and teeth and claws flashed around us.

Jeff was knocked from his pet in the middle of the scuffle and had the misfortune to hit the ledge we were on, with a loud painfull grunt. Ty's eyes narrowed in anger when that caught his attention, and he moved in. That was a repeat of the campsite fight all over again, except Ty firmly kicked him over the side of the ledge when he was done. "Have a nice trip!" Ty called after the human as his shrieks rang out to unsympathetic ears.

"He deserved that one." Epps grumbled to Will.

"Yup." Will calmly agreed.

Soon enough the four dragons ran out of tinker toys to play with and landed around Prime, their claws once again slamming into the rocks and digging in for secure holds on the slope. Then glared up at the Con leader who was staring back in disbelief.

"I do believe the holders of the gems made their wishes very clear Megatron." Prime told him. "They are of no use to you, for they have been bound to my comrades. And they will fight you to keep ownership of them." His facemask snapped shut. "And so will I."

"Now is not the time of my choosing Prime." The Decepticon sneered back. "But I _will_ have them." Then the big chickencon turned tail and ran.

Raph let out a snort of irritation, the steam from it forming around his nostrils as he folded his red wings in.

"Yup, that one is Raph." Cris smiled up at him. "I can tell even without the colors."

Dante was looking around, still shaking a little as he took in the now drastically changed mountainside. "Someone is going to be very mad at us for messing up their mountain. I vote we get out of here. Very fast."

"Not likely going to happen 'very fast' cousin." Ty reminded him. "It took us almost two days to get up here."

Leo had apparently already thought about that. He straightened himself out on the side of the mountain and carefully reached out and lowered a wing down. Then that head large enough to crunch a car came around and gently nudged Ty towards the wing, then he nudged Lavi and Amy.

"You want us to get on?" I asked him, that awe rising up again along with a rush of excitement.

His head gently nudged me next. I couldn't follow that request, not yet. My hand reached out, shaking, and I gently laid it on his nose between the nostrils. "I...can't believe that's really you..."

A gentle rumble came from his throat as he carefully pushed into my hand. I smiled at him, stroking that spot a few times before I turned and carefully climbed up his wing and settled myself down.

Once the humans had been all loaded up on the dragons, the pushed off of the mountain and took to the air. Then they circled around and began to pick up Bots as they passed by. Mikey took a firm hold on Bee and Jolt, and Raph got the twins.

"Watch my paint!" Sunny snapped at him.

"Screw the paint Sunny!" Sides laughed. "This is pretty neat!"

Donnie took Jazz and Leo somehow managed to lift Prime and Hide. That made me shudder. The sheer strength of them was...just wow.

That wow factor was quickly lost as we flew on. And another wave of awe hit me. I was riding on a dragon...a friggin _dragon!_ This had to be the most awesome thing ever!

The four dragons glided effortlessly through the air, despite their immense size and their burdens. Side by side they flew, calm, peaceful as the wind passed under their wings. Even grumpy ol' Raph was serenely gliding along with a flap here and there to keep him in the air. It was just like my vision I noticed with a start. The landscape below was so beautiful as we passed, the mountains slowly moving around us.

In my vision, Cait had been crying, but here she wasn't the only one as tears welled in my eyes. Nothing could describe this, nothing could match it. Nothing would ever compare to this. Besides the wedding and the twins, this had to be the most special thing Leo has ever done for me. And the faces around me and on the backs of the other dragons echoed my sentiment. Even Cris was calm as she leaned forward on Raph's neck, her hands stroking his neck softly.

Another difference was that there were no fireballs this time. We were allowed to enjoy this moment with them, and that for some reason gave me hope that maybe we did have a chance after all to save this beautiful planet we live on.


	32. Chapter 32

All too soon the magical ride ended, we had made it back to our camp. The bots were carefully set down, dragon wings beating mightily to slow the descent to where there would be no damage. Then the dragons settled on the ground nearby and lowered their wings for their passengers. Who were babbling in excitement and awe as they made their way down.

Leo's eyes were filled with amusement as he watched Lavi and Amy chatter their amazement when they hit the ground. Ari even went so far as to hug her father's neck before she slid down. That was actually a bit amusing since her arms covered just a small circumference of it.

I wasn't really as eager to climb down myself as I still sat up there my eyes lost in thought and wonder, but tinged with sadness. He seemed to sense that as his head tilted a little while he watched me. I so much wanted to talk to him, but I still couldn't. I was assuming that it had something to do with the magic that he had to use to hold this form. Another downfall to the whole thing, though not nearly as bad as the eventual outcome. Knowing that he would be taken away from me after he finished his task just added to my frustration about not being able to talk to him now. To me, those moments with him were wasted. Moments I needed to hold onto him as long as I could.

I took the time to gather myself by studying the dragons. Now I could do so with leisure since I didn't have Insecticons, falling rocks and ledges to worry about. There are many different pictures, drawings, carvings and who knows what else of dragons that folks have made over the years. And it seemed no two were alike really. I took what was in front of me and compared it to the numerous portrayals.

I guess the best way to describe Leo and his brothers is that they weren't "over dragonfied". Some pictures have the dragons covered in all kinds of spikes along with their horns. This wasn't the case here. Those two horns were the only two protrusions coming out of their heads and there were none on their bodies. Which I thought was nice, it didn't give them that porcupine look.

Another thing I noticed was their necks. They were long, don't get me wrong, but also not the overly long snake neck, again so commonly used. The best way to compare is to picture this. Imagine a horse as a dragon. Now, put a giraffe neck on it. That's about how most necks look on dragons. Here it was more like just take two regular horses necks and put them together end to end. Still long, but better proportioned.

And the heads themselves. Not really the long, narrow, bent in the middle snouts and lots of teeth showing around the edges that gave most dragons an evil look regardless if they were or not. They were more squared, with the back jawline clearly defined where it attached to the neck giving them all a more...noble look I guess you could say. And as mentioned before, their horns didn't stick up into the air, but followed the curve of their skull and flowed back past it. More streamlined with their heads.

Their bodies were well muscled, you could clearly make out the the ridges and ripples of them when the guys moved, but at the same time they weren't bulky. Which was a bit shocking considering how far a few Insecticons unwillingly flew earlier, especially that first one Leo whacked. There was obviously more power in those bodies than you would at first assume.

Overall, they were beautiful creatures that awed me again as I studied them. But their personalities still shone clearly through, that was very obvious.

"Daddy! Can you please light the fire?" Ari excitedly asked the orange trimmed dragon after she slid down. "Use your dragonfire! I wonder what dragonfire s'mores taste like?"

"Like regular s'mores." Thane rolled his eyes.

Mikey happily complied with his daughter's request, sending out a small spit of fire that immediately caught the already laid out wood and a happy Mikey fire was soon burning.

Ari giggled. "Thank you Daddy!" She quickly ran to her tent for her stash.

Mikey gave her a happy dragon nod as he bounced backwards like an overgrown, winged jack rabbit, so he wouldn't step on our camp gear, and causing mini earthquakes as he did...and smoothly crashed into Raph and knocking them both over.

Raph let out an angry roar and rolled back to his feet, and broadside tackled mikey as he was getting up, and they went rolling away in a giant dragon wrestling match.

Donnie let out a disdainful snort even as Leo's sides bellowed out from his huge sigh. Then he carefully swung his head around, gently picked me up and placed me on the ground before he turned and leapt onto the two struggling brothers. I watched, more than a little amused, as he tried to wrestle them apart, using his tail numerous time to smack the crap out of them even as his forelimbs were doing the same thing. Lots of smacks, thwaps, bobs, growls, swipes and finally Leo just got fed up with them, backed off and turned his entire body around and brought that tail in full force and connected, sending them both flying onto their backs with another earth trembling rumble. Then he placed himself between them, his large blue eyes glaring them down.

We all winced at that one.

"That had to hurt." Casey muttered.

Leo snorted in irritation before shaking his head and backing away again as two sheepish dragons got back to their feet.

Hide was also shaking his head. "I hope, for all of our sakes, this form isn't permanent. We may not survive long enough to face Unicron otherwise."

Caitlin snorted with laughter even as Donnie carefully walked over. Then he began to glow a soft purple and shimmered back into his turtle form. "It's not."

"Thank Primus."

Caitlin laughed harder.

Soon after, once he was sure his rambunctious brothers wouldn't act up again, Leo also shimmered back to his own form. And when he did that door in my head opened again and I could clearly feel his steady presence. He also had a very intense look in his eyes as he walked over to me, then pulled me close to him and kissed me, hard, right there in front of everyone. As if that wasn't enough to make me blush, his thought process clearly informed me that he wasn't going to stop there.

"Get a tent!" Mikey catcalled even as the others broke out in laughter.

"I intend too." Leo calmly replied and picked me up and carried me off to our tent.

"What in the world has gotten into you?" I asked him once he put me down again.

He still had that same, intense look in his eyes when he gently pulled me to him. "I just...need you right now dear one."

I looked at him with curiosity. At first I had thought that maybe going dragon had somehow forced certain urges up, but I was quickly understanding that wasn't the case as his hand gently brushed my bangs out of my eyes. It wasn't that kind of need. When he kissed me again, it was soft and not as demanding as earlier. And his hands were extremely gentle, more so than usual, as he undressed me.

Completely bare I stood in front of him, still slightly confused over his behavior. His clothes and gear followed mine to the floor and he pulled me against him again, just holding me to him as his lips caressed mine. I finally understood when his mind joined with me. I wasn't the only one unhappy about our bond being blocked off with him in dragon form. He hadn't been able to reach me just as I couldn't reach him and he was trying to settle his unease by taking the time to reinforce our connection. Both in body and mind. He needed to feel me against him, in both ways. Hence us just standing in a close embrace in the middle of the tent.

When he was finally ready to move on he was still extremely gentle as he laid me on the floor of the tent, because our cots weren't big enough to hold two. This wasn't a desire filled event, but again a reassurance one. I laid under him as his gentle thrusts pushed in, soft and very slow. My body was completely relaxed, my breathing nothing more than a heavy panting whisper and Leo's churrs were soft, barely even audible in the quiet tent. His body covered mine almost completely and his presence in my mind just held me tight, not trying to force anything.

It was a calm lovemaking with neither of us trying to push for our climax and just wanting to keep this feeling of closeness we knew that climax would end. Because of that, this went on for a long while and the whole time we just focused on each other. Eventually, it did happen. And it wasn't a massive surge of feelings and body spasms, it was a gentle release. A mild ripple where usually tidal waves flowed. But it was enough to push us even closer together as we rode it out.

We were still tired afterwards, more from the duration than from the effort. But we were calm, relaxed and once again firmly entrenched in each other. Even then he didn't roll to his side and pull me against him like he usually does. Leo just shifted most of his weight off of me but still covered a decent amount of me as he draped himself over my body, still wanting that closeness.

I smiled gently at him as his eyes held mine, both of us feeling very content. Words weren't needed at that moment so none were spoken.

.

.

They came riding out of the darkness of night. Legends and tales had been told about them over countless eons, but none could capture the reality of them, because none ever saw them close up and lived to tell the tale. As immense as they were, they were even larger when mounted on their steeds of destruction. Metal, clawed feet easily climbed up the side of the volcano as they made their way up the side and found the now ruined and abandoned cave.

They reigned in their mounts, and they spat fire in their protest.

"We are too late." The lone female among them said in a hollow voice, her eyes black voids that looked around. "The ritual has been completed." Her metal wings twitched irritably on her back to hold her steady on the slope as she dismounted and knelt on the ground and scooping some rocks into her hands.

"So it seems Death." The largest one of them agreed, his red eyes glowing in anger a moment. "I had hoped to defeat the champion of this world before he came into his power. But he will perish all the same, just as all of the other champions have."

"You grow overconfident War." A third said, his eyes glowing a sickly green. "I feel something different about this planet. Something...odd about it's champion."

"Your opinion was not wanted Pestilence!" The large figure mounted on the largest beast snapped at him.

"But he has a point." The last spoke in a dusty whisper, his dirty brown eyes narrowing. "I sense something very odd myself with this one."

"It is enough to take precautionary measures." Death stood up, still holding the rocks in her hand. "That I do agree with Famine and Pestilence on."

"Very well." War finally reluctantly agreed. "Send out a stalker."

"My pleasure." Death agreed, her metal lips twisting into an evil smile. She tossed the rocks she held into the air and they spun around in a circle a moment before they floated down the slope. She quickly remounted and turned her beast to follow them and led the others until they hovered over a spot. Her dead eyes looked curiously at the broken and battered body lying before her. "The creatures of this world are pathetic and yet at the same time curious. The liquid life in these bodies carry iron in them from what I could tell from the small sample I found above on the guide stones. Not energon."

"Can you still raise it?" War asker her, his temper flaring again.

"Of course." She calmly replied. "Dead is dead, no matter what the species. Death is the same for all." Her hand raised and a dark, crackling energy formed around it before she pointed to the broken organic body on the ground and released it.

It stirred, and an empty wail coming from it as it rose to it's feet again. Eyes just as black as hers opened.

"You will do my bidding now, tiny one."

"Yes mistress."

"Do you know the champion of this world? And what he loves?"

"I do."

"Then go forth, and destroy it."

"May I ask a small boon in return mistress?"

Her empty eyes look amused. "You are the first to ask me such a question. What could you possibly want bad enough to risk me sending you back to the House of Death for even requesting it?"

"A woman. A woman whose rejection of me caused my fall into hell." A snarl found it's way onto that dead face. "I wish that she join me. Then Cindy will forever be bound to me."

"A simple enough request, and your motivation may improve if I allow it. It is agreed, do this task and this Cindy shall be yours."

All four were pleased by the eager, evil grin on the stalker as he turned and walked into the night.


	33. Chapter 33

I came awake slowly, stretching with a loud hum of content under Leo's warm body.

"You're awake early." He calmly noted, his fingers tracing soft patterns on the skin on my side. "Still an hour or so before our usual roll out time."

"So are you." I shivered under his touch. "Speaking of, where are we going now?"

"I'm...not sure myself dear one." He frowned a little. "I wish we had time to get some more answers." He sighed and rolled off of me and got to his feet.

Now that he wasn't my blanket anymore, I started shivering again. This time because I was cold. That pretty much forced me to get up and dressed.

"You want to do _what?_ " Hide suddenly roared from outside.

Leo and I looked at each other curiously and left our tent and found the large Bot staring at Prime in astonishment, and to my surprise...horror. Not the oh shit I'm scared kind of horror either, more like a Raph stuck with Mikey in a room and the younger turtle is bored kinda horror.

"Have you lost your fraggin' _mind?_ "

"What's got him in a tizzy?" I asked Jazz, wiping the sleep from my eyes as I walked up.

Jazz shook his head in rueful disbelief. "It seems tha Boss Bot wants to call in some back up."

"Oh? That's a good thing in this case...right?"

"'Pends on tha backup."

"The Dinobots? You want to call in the _Dino_ bots?" Hide asked incredulously.

"Aw come on Hide." Sides' grinned. "They aren't _that_ bad."

"Grimlock didn't confuse _you_ with a chew toy! And that was your fault anyway!"

Sides gave him that completely fake as hell innocent look you see a lot on practical jokers. "How was I supposed to know that if I dumped energon on you and told him you were a walking snackbar that he would believe me?"

I tried not to laugh, and failed as a few quiet snorts came out.

"Because he is dumb as a stump!"

I raised my brow. "Oh, he doesn't get apple falling far from the tree...but he knows dumb as a stump?"

Hide glared at me and Sides cracked up. Jazz just looked away trying to hide his grin.

"Vicky...I don't think that's helping right now." Leo told me. But our bond told me something else...he was trying not to laugh too.

"Calm yourself Ironhide." Prime spoke up. Then he got a mischievous look in his eye. "I will make sure he does not mistake you for another chew toy."

I lost it.

"And here I was thinking Prime didn't know how to make a joke." Mikey chuckled as he joined us.

Hide stomped off, muttering under his breath and blowing up a few innocent trees in the process.

Needless to say everyone was up after that outburst, so we packed up a bit early and stowed everything away. It was when the last few tents were being tied down when Adam went to go start his vehicle up. He looked still half asleep when he was about to slide into his seat, but he was wide awake a moment later when an air horn went of, very loudly and right in his face. His eyes grew wide as he stumbled backwards, then fell over before looking around a little befuddled.

Mikey, with a big smirk on his face, calmly slipped inside of Bee where Caitlin was already waiting.

Leo shook his head and sighed as Ari helped Adam back to his feet again. "I'm not so sure them two hanging out is going to go well."

"Shut up fearless." Raph grumbled. "Personally, I'm happy he found someone beside me to prank all the damn time."

.

.

The stalker was growing closer, running along faster than any living being could in his new state, and his tireless effort was soon rewarded. He could feel their presence just a few miles away. A snarl found it's way on his face in angry anticipation to repay that turtle for what he did. For ripping his life away and sending him into the pits of hell. A hell he was going to share with the woman who caused his obsession. That would be his ultimate revenge, to take what was rightfully his again and destroy the freak that took her from him. Ty may have thought he won for now, but the stalker once known as Jeff would prove him wrong.

He stopped, confused a moment, as he felt his target start to move away. His eyes narrowed in slight irritation. They had moved out earlier than expected, but no matter. They would have to stop and rest again, he didn't. He was beyond the need to rest.

Still, he didn't want to lose the ground. So when he caught sight of another vehicle pulling up, a small research vehicle by the looks of it. Probably sent to figure out what had happened to the volcano earlier. A smile found it's way onto that undead face now as he walked in front of it so the headlights could catch sight of him, and it slowed as predicted before stopping.

The driver's door opened and a local stepped out, calling questioningly to him as he approached. The stalker had no interest in what was being asked, the only interest he had was the vehicle. The scientist noticed too late that something was wrong, when a pale hand shot out and grabbed him by the throat to be exact. Then he crushed the windpipe easily and dropped the dying man.

His companion came around the vehicle then, swinging something at Jeff. It hit him with a thud and the wraith calmly turned before catching the arm as the weapon came in again, and ripped the offending arm off. He ignored the man now as he joined his dying comrade on the ground, screaming in pain and bleeding out.

Soon the research vehicle was in motion again, now following the Autobots and their allies.

.

.

Leo was still in a cuddle mood a little as we rode along a few hours later. Leo was sitting in the passenger side, with me in his lap and leaned against him. Hide had to scoot his seat all the way back to make room for the both of us to fit though. I wasn't sure if he was still a little perturbed over the fact we were cut off from each other in the bond yesterday, or if it was something more. I know I was wanting as much time as I could with him...for obvious reasons.

"So. Where do we have to go to get the Dinobots Hide?" I asked. It was too quiet for me in that cab. Hide was still in grumpy mood from earlier, and Leo and I were...thinking of things. I still really couldn't accept the fact he would be taken from me, and he was just as unhappy about it. I couldn't help the tears of anger that formed in my eyes every time I even thought about it, like now. I understood why he accepted, but I couldn't help but feeling the way I did. Why did we have to make this sacrifice so everyone else could live happy lives. Mine never would be happy again without him.

Leo just sighed as his arms tightened around me. He wasn't going to say anything, because there was nothing he could say.

"We have to go to the mainland first." Hide answered.

"For what?"

Hide grumbled a little to himself before he answered. "You could call them Dinobot snacks. We need to stock up on some before we go."

 **-Yeah! And they are shaped like Ironhide energon cookies!-** Sides cackled over the comm. **-I made the form myself!-**

"Why you little..." Hide promptly swerved and slammed into Sides.

"And here we go again." Leo muttered quietly to me and I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing.

"Why in the world do you need snacks for them anyway?" I asked amused instead.

He was quiet a long moment, then finally said "So they don't try to eat me again."

"Ah...I see..." I bit my lip harder.

 **-Leo, do you speak Japanese too or is it just the fairy tails and stuff you like?-** Mikey then broke in using Bee's comm.

"I've studied it. Been a long while since I've actually had to use it though."

"I didn't know you spoke Japanese." I muttered.

"You never asked, or looked." He smiled at me. "Why did you want to know Mikey?"

 **-Um...because I'm thinking that the natives are pissed. There's something on the local radio about Mt. Ontake. But I don't understand enough to make heads or tails of what they are babbling about.-**

"Turn the radio on please, Hide."

The large grumpy Bot complied and soon the cabin was filled with the sound of a radio host talking away. Leo quietly listened and I was slightly amazed that I could understand it, because he was feeding me what was being said as Leo struggled to focus on the rusty talent. I looked at him stupefied when I also picked up silently while I was in that corner of his noggin that he also spoke all dialects spoken in China. "Good lord Leo why stop there? You still got Korean to learn...and Vietnamese..."

"Father helped me dear one. After he died...I didn't feel like learning any more languages."

"Oh."

"Now hush, I'm trying to listen."

I stuck my tongue out at him and got the predictable eyeroll before he turned his attention back to the radio. It wasn't the radio host talking now, but someone else. "...is an outrage. First the vandilation of our landscape and then the murder of the research team sent out to investigate. Whoever was responsible for this will be caught and brought to justice." Apparently he was someone who was involved with the legal system...yay.

"Wait...did he say murder?"

"Shush!" Leo snapped at me as his eyes narrowed while staring hard at the radio.

Now the radio host was back on. "If anyone has any information regarding these events, they are encouraged to step forward. The violent nature of these murders is alarming and officials believe that a third murder may be connected, though it is uncertain at this moment at how. Another body was just found near Kochi by the abandoned research vehicle and the victim's vehicle is now missing. It is a blue-" Leo reached over and turned the radio off.

 **-Well?-** Mikey asked. **-Did anyone see us?-**

"No Mikey, not as far as I can tell. But that's not what's worrying me."

"There was a couple of researchers found murdered out there." I quietly added.

 **-Seriously?-**

"Very." Leo said firmly. "And a third was found not to long ago near a city we passed. The body was found with the murdered pair's car."

 **-That's not leading up to anything good Leo.-** Donnie broke into the conversation. **-And if someone can put us there, it's going to make Will and his team look really bad.-**

"See what you can do to keep that from happening."

 **-He makes it sound like that's the easiest thing in the world.-** Donnie grumbled.

 **-But what do we do in the meantime?-** Raph asked.

"Hope it's just a freak coincidence and move on." Leo answered. "I'm not sure how much time we have left, and I'm not going to waste it trying to figure something out that we aren't even sure involves us."

The conversation turned to other things by then, but it still worried Leo. And you didn't have to be inside his head to know it either. He knew that when these "freak coincidences" happen around him, it's usually not a coincidence. He was unsettled when we reached base and loaded up our gear even as the NEST team stored the bigger items again. Will and Epps used that time and went to investigate how in the hell Jeff had managed to follow when he had been left behind in the hospital base, under heavy guard.

The answer to that wasn't very surprising. "He totally flipped his lid." Epps told us when they came back. "Took a nurse hostage and forced his way out. Then stole one of the MP cars and killed the woman." Epps' eyes grew flat. "He threw her body out of the car while being chased and a few MPs wrecked trying not to hit it."

"Then apparently Screamer picked him up, car and all." Will finished. "They lost him after that."

Ty shook his head. "Then I'm satisfied with what I did. I admit I struggled with kicking him off the ledge like that."

Leo laid a calming hand on his son's shoulder in understanding. "The decision to take someone's life should never be an easy one to make son. In this case it may have been justified, who knows how many others he would have harmed if he was allowed to live."

The younger turtle just gave a quiet nod before turning and went to go find Cindy. When he did find her, he held her close to him for a long while, only breaking that hold when Jetfire rolled onto the runway so they could strap themselves down and not slide down the plane in the upward takeoff pitch.

I settled down myself, once again making my little cozy nest, and seriously hoping this flight would go smoother than the last one. But I also felt a little unnerved. The whole murder thing was still getting to me a little. Something was screaming at me that it indeed had something to do with us, but I'd be damned if I could figure it out.

.

.

The stalker snarled when it reached the runway. He had just missed them. Black eyes watched as Jetfire lifted into the air. He would have to follow. His body crackled and a pair of black wings made of the dark energy that allowed him to live again. Those batlike wings flared a moment before they were put to use. He wouldn't be as fast as the departing plane, but eventually he would catch up to them again. They had to rest, he didn't.


	34. Chapter 34

"You're right Sides." I grinned. "They do look like Ironhide cookies."

"Don't they!" Sides grinned back with childlike glee.

Hide just stood in the corner and grumbled to himself as the snacks were loaded up into Jetfire.

We had landed on another NEST base on the outskirts of Hong Kong, the closest one that held the energon goodies, and stopped just long enough to stock up on these things...that were as tall as I was. I was a little amused by that, until I realized and remembered how big they actually were. Yeah...those snacks needed to be bigger.

Bee seemed real excited too about the fact that we were going to see the Dinobots. He radio chattered excitedly with Mikey, Caitlin, Ari and Adam and making flying motions with his hands. Apparently he liked them and was excited to join them in a team up.

That had me wondering in amusement which bunch this was. The cartoon versions like Jetfire here, or the movie version like Hide and the rest of the ground rollers. Secretly I was hoping for the movie version myself. They were just as awesome as dragons...well almost as awesome as dragons. Dragons had a bit more of my favoritism at the moment.

I leaned back and snuggled against Leo again as the last few were loaded up. "That's a lot of snacks." Leo noted.

"They are big bots." I replied.

He raised an eyeridge at me. "I'm scared to ask. Anything that uses Hide for a chew toy has to be pretty big."

I just laughed quietly as I borrowed deeper into my snuggle hold, and he replied by wrapping his arms around me. "How are you holding up?" He asked me then.

"Not very good." Was the honest answer.

He held me tighter.

The other turtle wives were also being held close every chance they got. Even Raph was being unusually attentive to Cris, even went so far to give her a few seldom seen in public kisses...with a fist raised to bash anyone who dared make fun of him for it. Even Cait was firmly snuggled against Mikey as he still listened to Bee's chatter, his hand rubbing her worried shoulder gently.

There was no other way really to come to terms with this gift that really wasn't a gift. The dragon part was awesome, but the cost... To have them taken from us to live on somewhere else. A place I couldn't even visit. That part was still hard to swallow.

Our cargo was now loaded and we were ready to continue on with our trip. Soon enough we were rolling along the runway and taking to the air again. Now we were heading to the island that the Dinobots called home. One owned by NEST so they could roam at will unmolested...and leave the majority of the humans unmolested. I have no idea why Bay thought it was a good idea to just let them roam around at the end of the fourth movie. That was asking for trouble.

We settled in for another long flight. We hoped it would be a peaceful one, but not a damn one of us was surprised when the fist telltale shudders hit Jetfire again.

"Con's are back." Jazz calmly noted as he stood back up from where he was lounging.

"You noticed." Hide rumbled as the scramble to tie everyone and thing off began again. "I'm surprised they didn't attack earlier."

"I'm surprised they have to stupidity to try at all." Leo firmly said as he moved me off of him and stood up. "As Raph said before, if they want the gems they are going to get them. Just not in the way they intended."

"Leo!" I scrambled to my feet even as he walked towards the back of the plane. "Don't!"

"Dear one, we were given this for a reason. It won't do us much good if we don't use it and get comfortable with it."

Before I could even form the words together for another protest, he calmly took off running and jumped out of the back of the plane that was now wide open. Raph and Donnie right behind him.

"I'm going to fucking kill him!" I screeched as they disappeared.

Mikey pissed me off even more when he jumped out, spun in midair then blew me kisses before he dropped out of sight.

"You're dead too stupid!" I bellowed after him.

I could have sworn I heard his laughter coming back up at me before the glow of their changing bodies came up from below. Then there were four dragons flying around in the middle of the armada of Cons that were out there.

Once again that door in my head closed with his transformation. I shook my head in frustration even as I felt that awe rise up in me again. I stood, lost in that childlike wonder as they gracefully maneuvered their large bodies in the air. Then they began to tear shit apart, quickly snapping me out of that daze.

The various drones, or Steves as the fandom calls all those minor bots with no names, did try to fend off those dragons. But there really wasn't much success to that. Mikey came up, using a large bubble of air like a battering ram, the air forcing them off in all kinds of directions. One of them went towards Donnie who caught it in his massive jaws and front legs. He held on with those legs as his head snapped viciously backwards, ripping it in half. He let those pieces drop and zeroed in on another one and swooped down, his claws digging deep gouges as he passed and it began to smoke and spark as it began to spiral downward.

Raph fought as a dragon as he did as a ninja turtle, right in the middle of it all. His teeth ripping into a Con even as his tail came around and knocked another into two more. Then he turned up the heat, his flame breath coming out in one long stream that he swung around, nailing Con after Con. Mikey came over his head in a low pass, tearing into the ones Raph couldn't get.

Leo came in leading with a barrel roll before his wings flared out, sending Cons that were too close to him flying away again on different flight paths. He grabbed one and turned suddenly with it and slammed it into another and they both fell towards the ocean below.

Again we all winced at that one.

"Hey! Dragon boys! You going to leave some for us?" Sides called out, a little annoyed that the turtles were having all of the fun.

Mikey immediately banked and easily caught up to Jetfire and when he was close enough Sides gleefully jumped out and landed on his back and Mikey swooped off again. "Dragon judo!" Sides hollered as his mount headed for another batch of Cons.

"Idiot." Sunny mumbled. Then he let one of his rare grins loose when Raph came up next and Sunny promptly followed suit.

Cris facepalmed. "I thought I'd never see the day when I would see Autobots riding dragons into a fight."

"I'd never thought I'd see the day where I want to kill them, but at the same time feel like they are safer now than they ever have been before." I shook my head. "The Cons seem to be doing hardly any damage to them."

It was mind boggling really. There was no way in hell they would be out there in those large bodies in the middle of that many Cons and not get hit. Even the worst shot among them all was bound to get lucky and hit _some_ thing on the dragons sooner or later. But they just brushed off those hits as if they were spitballs, the retaliation was like the Con getting hit by a freight train. Even with their superior firepower and numbers...the Cons were outmatched.

"It makes sense though if you think about it Aunt Vicky." Dante said from nearby. "Didn't that goddess say that they were to fight these henchmen? They'd have to withstand some decent hits to be able to do that if they are as strong as she fears they are. She doesn't seem like the type to just halfass her work. So if that's what they are meant to fight...these guys are literally just peons."

"Dante...that really doesn't make me feel better. If they are meant to fight something with so much power that they are protected enough to where these guys can't hurt them...how powerful are these four guys they have to face?"

"Very." Prime answered me his eyes calm as he watched the display in front of him. "Not much is known of those four heralds, but what is known is concerning."

"That doesn't make me feel better either." I craned my neck up at him.

"I do not think anything can be said to give you those feeling of comfort Vicky. But to hide from what is out there will also not serve any purpose. It is best to go in fully aware of what lies ahead."

I sighed. He was right about that. Nothing would ease my worries until the job was done...and then I wouldn't even be able to feel one way or the other about it. Either they lost and the whole world goes to shit...or they win and get taken from us. No matter how it went...I lost.

Quietly I watched as those fierce, mighty dragons ripped through Con after Con. Sunny and Sides getting their fair share of hits in now too as they quickly adjusted to this new way of fighting. If I hadn't been thinking what I was, I would have laughed at the sight. They were like some weird conversion of one of those knights in shining armour stories. Except they were metal instead of just wearing it, they fought with blades and plasma shots instead of swords and lances and their horses weren't noble warhorses but kickass dragons. I wished I had a camera, because this was something worth remembering. This was something I would hang up on the wall and look at everyday to remind me of what they had done to help a world that really didn't even know they existed. This was something that would help me understand their sacrifice they freely made for this world.

It was getting to the point that I had to turn away, my thoughts threatening to reduce me to tears when the remaining Cons finally broke off and high tailed it out of there. Mikey and Raph chased them for a bit, with Sunny and Sides leaning low over their necks, weapons held ready at their sides as they closed in on the stragglers. The dragons each reached out with their jaws and clamped down even as those weapons came up and finished them off before letting the others go. Then both sets of wings flared as the dragons stopped and hovered, watching through calm, angry eyes as their targets retreated the Autobots now sitting tall on their backs.

"We have _got_ to do this again." Sides grinned.

"Much better than hopping from Con to Con." Sunny agreed.

Raph snorted his own agreement and the two dragons banked and turned steeply to rejoin their brothers before all four effortlessly caught up to Jetfire again.

After a tricky dismount, the turtles flew towards the opening, one by one, and used that momentum to hold their speed as they changed back making it easier for them to enter the plane that really wouldn't hold those dragon bodies. Rolling across the floor in their turtle forms before coming to a stop farther in. Mikey rolled a bit farther, crashing into the front wall before he stopped. Leo was the last one in and the doors slowly closed behind him again.

He just stood up from his crouching position he landed in, eyes eyes firmly watching in the direction the Cons took off to. I could feel the determination in him, that no matter how many times the Cons would try, he would stand up to them every time. No more was he the small little reptile they had caught. No longer would he have to resort to quick reflexes and years of training to go for risky eye hits to blind them. He was on their footing now, and he was going to remind them of that every time they made an appearance.

This gift had done more than just give him a weapon to fight with. It gave him his hope again. It gave him a reason to push on. Because even as he turned to face me and began to walk over his eyes and thoughts wandered over to where the twins were. He had something he could now use to protect them against these things that had beaten us before, and he would do just that. Leo had found his place in their life again.


	35. Chapter 35

The stalker's face twisted into a snarl. He kept coming so close to only have the gap widen between them again! He had been so near, had been able to lay eyes on the Autobot jet as it lifted off and flew on again. No matter, he would just keep following. Sooner or later he would catch up to them. Then Ty would be destroyed, along with his family, and Cindy would be his. That thought calmed him again as he renewed his chase.

.

.

"This targeted loved one appears to be very elusive." Death calmly stated as their mounts flew in the air now. Held aloft by the powers given to them as well. "Even the stalker struggles to get close to him."

"We run out of time Death!" War snapped at her. His mount feeling his frustration and let out a stream of fire, lighting up the sky around them. "He will be here soon and not take lightly to this world mounting a defense that will inconvenience him."

"Patience War." Was her still infuriating calm reply. "I for one relish in the challenge, and he is not so close to where we need to worry."

"There have been other targets as crafty as this one before." Famine agreed. "But eventually they all fall and their loss weakens the champion. This champion will be no different. He will feel the pain of loss and be unable to fight us."

"Do none of you understand!" War roared at them, his anger flaring. "It is not just the champion! The essence of Primus is here also! If we fail to destroy the champion then he will be free to aid the descendant of the Primes! That outcome could be disastrous for us all!"

"And if we rush in without weakening him, the fight will weaken us to the point we can not aid our master." Pestilence reminded him.

"This is a tricky scenario." Death quietly said. "Never before have we encountered a world that held both a champion and a Prime. We must play our game carefully."

War just grunted, still very much annoyed but agreed with his companions. They would have to be patient. Patience however was not his strength. He was beginning to wonder though if this planet was worth the aggravation. But his Master's wishes had been very clear. This planet would be the next to fall, and the Prime along with it.

.

.

"I got a bad feeling about this." Raph mumbled as we walked behind the Bots, his eyes wandering constantly.

"Aw...is the big tough Raph scared of a little trees?" Mikey grinned, and ended up falling backwards when Raph's smack connected.

"I ain't scared of no damn trees!"

"Knock it off you two!" Leo hissed.

They were all on edge, with good reason. We were finally on the island that housed the Dinobots. It was a lush, forested paradise with no one residing here but the large Bots and a few NEST personnel left to see to their needs. And oddly enough, Crosshairs and Drift. The presence of those two led me to believe we were indeed working with the movie version Dinobots. Now that we were here, I was starting to have mixed feelings about that.

I wasn't the only one. Leo had firmly insisted that we all stayed behind while he and his brothers went out. Everyone listened...everyone but Cris and I. There was no way in hell we were going to miss this. A point we made very clear when we just walked out with them when they were leaving the island base. Leo had given me that glare and I just crossed my arms and returned it. "What are you going to do? Tie me to a tree?"

He had stalked on, inventing new swear words as he went.

"This way." Drift quietly led us in a new direction. "There is a clearing up ahead that they favor. We may find them there."

"Aye, an' you know Grimlock will be happy to see this one again." Crosshairs grinned at Ironhide.

Hide gave him a nasty look in return. He did however inch a bit closer to the snackbar Sides was pulling along behind him. I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my smile.

"What's the big deal about these things anyway." Raph grumped as we moved on. "What do they have that you guys don't already have? I mean, they have size. Big fucking deal. Guns? Yay. And they obviously can't be too bright if you have to hide them all the way out fucking here. I bet they are dumb as stumps."

We all stopped to shush him, but he refused to be shushed. Even crossed his arms, ignoring the sudden wide eyes of everyone in front of him. "I bet they smell too. Let out big, nasty air horn train farts or something."

Mikey was waving at him to stop, making scared mewling noises because he couldn't get the words out.

"This is just great, having to come out here for some big dumb robots. Why are they called Dinobots anyway? They too old to put up a decent fight? And what in the hell is wrong with you Mikey!"

Mikey just pointed a finger at what was behind Raph. The big turtle just rolled his eyes and turned...and came face to face with a large, very large, metal Tyrannosaurus head that had lowered itself close to the ground and was watching Raph through narrowed eyes.

"Oh...that might explain the Dinobot part..."

What was obviously Grimlock roared in fury, knocking Raph over backwards with the force of his vocals alone even as the rest of us scrambled out of the way. Good thing too, because a bright flame burst out of that mouth next. It missed Raph, barely, and flowed out into the trees behind the red masked turtle, setting a fair amount of them on fire.

When that was done and over with, a giant foot came down next and Raph found himself rolling like hell to get out of the way before it slammed down.

"Alright you big metal lizard!" Raph snapped at him as he got back to his feet. "You want a fight?! Let's make it a bit more fair!"

"Oh no..." Leo groaned. "Vicky...this is why I wanted you to stay back with the others!" He began to frantically pull me out of harms way even as Raph shimmered and changed.

I just nodded in dumb agreement as I let him drag me along.

Grimlock roared again and Raph answered it with one of his own. Then they came together with enough force to knock my feet out from under me as the ground shook.

Screw any monster movie you ever seen...because this took the cake out of all of 'em right here. Raph was bigger than Grimlock overall, but a lot of his size was neck, wings and tail. Grimlock had the bigger body, though not by much. As far as I could tell...they were evenly matched, even to the fire breath that was flaring out every which way now. I squealed a little when one of those blasts came real close to frying my backside.

Grimlock got a good body slam in on Raph and he hit the ground hard enough to send me on my ass, again. The Dinobot was coming in with his head for the seemingly vulnerable neck but Raph managed to use that long neck to swing his own head around and knocked the jaws to the side before kicking Grimlock's rear legs out from under him with his own. Then he was the one going in for the downed opponent until he learned that he wasn't the only one who could fight with his tail. Grimlock's came around hard and knocked the turtle dragon back off again. It didn't phase Raph a bit as he rolled with the hit, then dug his claws into the ground to stop that roll and they both leapt at each other.

Note to self, the next time there is a potential meeting between two giant hotheads...stay the fuck home... Nowhere seemed safe. Dirt, rocks, trees and fire was flying every which way now. And there was no safe place to hide from any of it. I had completely lost Leo in the commotion, but I did hear Cris screaming bloody murder at Raph as she tried to snap him out of his anger. It wasn't working.

Grimlock went down this time and a snarling Raph was coming in for another hit before another dragon slammed into him. Suddenly I knew where Leo had gone off to as that blue banded head snapped it's jaws right in front of Raph's face, a few times. Leo was definitely _not_ happy with his brother at the moment and it showed. Once he had Raph down, that head swung around to the charging Grimlock and narrowed before he let out his own roar, slamming his tail into the ground as he did. I fell on my ass for the third time.

Grimlock seemed a bit unsure, but his charge really didn't stop until Prime himself blocked him from his target. "Grimlock! Hold!"

To my surprise...he did. The big behemoth managed to skid to a stop just before he ran into, or should I say over, the Autobot leader. He glared at Raph though, his eyes angry as he snorted a few times. Raph just glared right back and matched those snorts and added a growl or two. Until Leo swiped at him with a forepaw. Then he shut up.

"They are our allies and friends noble one." Prime tried to calm the big thing.

Grimlock let out a final snort, then changed into his bot form. Good lord he was huge... "Why puny little thing insult me Grimlock?"

"Because he's an idiot!" Mikey called out from a safe distance.

Donnie took the liberty to smack him since both Leo and Raph were busy at the moment.

"Me Grimlock not like mouthy green man. Should just squish him."

Leo stared Raph down, and Raph finally went back turtle, though he didn't look to happy about it. "I'd like to see you try!"

Leo had by now also changed back and promptly smacked his bigger brother. Now that was a rarity... "Don't you think you've caused enough damage for one day with your mouth!"

Raph just crossed his arms and harrumphed.

"Seems like ol' Grimmy doesn't care too much for your friend." Crosshairs told Ironhide with a smug look. "Lil guy might even become his new favorite chew toy instead of you."

Hide's response to that was to deck the green bot. "the next one that makes a reference about that incident will get one too." Hide grumbled around him. Suddenly all the other bots found more interesting places to be.

I didn't move, not even after the situation had calmed...somewhat. I was too scared too. It would be my luck that i'd be the next one Grimlock went after because I accidentallyy pissed him off. But it was also that determination to stay put that almost got me squished anyway when a foot slammed down next to me. I think I pissed myself a little when that happened and I was seriously shaking when the other one past me and came down further in. I shakily looked up to see Scorn move onward towards Prime and Grimlock, and further to my side Slug also moved in as Strafe flew down from above.

Tripping over myself now, I somehow made it to Hide, seriously banging on his foot to get his attention. "Pick me up." I almost squealed when he looked down. "Pick me up right now before I get smushed out here."

He was trying real hard not to laugh at me, but gently scooped me up and placed me onto his shoulder. "Shows no fear to Starscream, yet the Dinobots terrify you."

"Hell yes they do! Screamer would at least acknowledge I was there before he steps on me, these guys just plop their big ass feet wherever they feel like it!"

"Leonardo told you not to come."

"Oh...shut up."

Ok, that time I did get laughed at.


	36. Chapter 36

It was a calm night after the fiasco from earlier. Ty and the others had been watching from the control room as his father and Uncles made contact. And they were all on the edge of their seats with anxiety when Uncle Raph decided to tangle with the Dinobot.

But that was earlier. Everything had been smoothed over and the large beings had agreed to help Prime. Now they just had to get the large goofs off of the island. But that was something to be dealt with tomorrow. It was already late and it was figured that a little cool down time would be well needed before his hot headed Uncle met up with the hot headed Dinobot again.

He didn't mind the delay one bit. He finally got the chance to sleep in an actual bed instead of a cot. A bed he planned on sharing with Cindy. He smiled a little at that thought as he looked out the window to the room given to them. They had already been sharing her tent after...well...after that night. But this was in a way special too. Their first room together. Sure it wasn't a permanent room back at home but a milestone to him nonetheless.

The soft sound of the water running in the shower told him she was still trying to get a few days worth of grime off of her. They had been on the move so much that most of them had resorted to what his mother referred to as "baby wipe baths" to stay somewhat fresh. But there was only so much those little towels could get clean. And laundry definately needed to be done. Ty had taken advantage of the barracks laundry room found here and had taken care of his and Cindy's things while she was still on duty. So at least she had some fresh clothes to slip into when she was done with her shower.

His own shower was already finished, having taken advantage of that luxury quickly, again while she was on duty. He knew she would want hers just as soon as she was released for the evening so he wanted to make sure they wouldn't both be trying to squeeze into it at the same time. The thing was ridiculously small.

Soon enough the sound of the water stopped and she stepped out a short while later, dressed in a long t-shirt and shorts with her now damp curls framing her face. "I have been waiting for that for days." She said dreamily as she joined him.

Ty smiled at her expression, then on an impulse picked up her hairbrush and began to carefully brush her red hair.

"You do know that's a wasted effort, right? Curly hair is a pain to keep untangled."

"I don't really care." Was his reply. "I want to brush it."

Her eyebrow came up at that. "I've never had someone I'm dating do that for me."

"Then I'd say it's about time." He carefully worked the brush trough. "It's so different than Mom's. Hers is so easy to brush."

"It's also straight." She reminded him. "Big difference. Wait...you brush your Mom's hair?"

"I used too when I was a kid. Lavi and I both did. I guess it's because we've seen Father do it so many times that we picked it up."

" _He_ brushes her hair?"

"Of course. He loves it as much as the rest of her. It's one of the ways he shows his affection to her. And honestly, she doesn't mind. She loves having her hair brushed, always did. Us kids have just outgrown the habit I guess, but Father still does it a lot."

Cindy was quiet a few moments as he kept working the brush through. "I do have to admit...it does feel nice."

Ty smiled. "Then I'm doing something right. Mom used to wince and flinch a lot. Probably because we usually tried to rip through the tangles instead of trying to gently separate them."

She laughed. "Yeah...you're brushing has definitely improved then."

He was about to answer but remained quiet when a ghostly chuckle filled the room. That was immediately followed with a large sense of unease. A feeling that grew very rapidly. He put the brush down and circled, his eyes searching for the source of the noise. Cindy was standing next to him, her wide eyes a clear indication that she heard it too.

Neither one of them could find the source of the strange noise. Ty was now very unsettled, his instincts screaming at him. Before he could do anything else, even reach for his weapons, the window shattered inward, sending shards of glass flying into the room. He had just enough time to grab Cindy and spin around with her, his shell taking the brunt of the hit, before something slammed into him hard enough to send them both across the room. Again he was madly twisting in the air to keep Cindy from the brunt of the hit and landed on his hard carapace and slid across the floor with her on top of him.

"Hello turtle boy." Ty stared at what he was seeing. It couldn't be... Jeff? "You like beating up on me? It's time to return the favor."

Ty snapped himself out of his stupor to shove Cindy out of the way. "Run Cindy! Get out of here!"

"Oh yes Cindy, do run." Jeff sneered at her with his black eyes, eyes that chilled Ty to his soul. "Once I'm done with him, the others are next. Then I'll have all the time in the world to hunt you down." Then he turned back to Ty and kicked him, sending the turtle through the wall and out into the corridor.

He hit the far wall hard and struggled to get to his feet, but not before another hit sent him through the next wall and into the room Thane was in.

"What in the hell!" Ty's cousin roared even as the blonde head of Jessica hid under the covers. "Ty?" Thane was out of his bed in a heartbeat and helped the downed turtle up. "What's going on?"

"It's...Jeff..." Ty wiped the blood off of his lip.

"Jeff?! He's dead!"

"Not dead as you wish me to be freak." Jeff appeared suddenly next to them and he picked Thane up and threw him across the room. "I'll deal with you in a minute. Turtle boy is first." He kicked Ty again and this time Ty found himself outside rolling across the ground. Still he got stubbornly to his feet and faced his attacker.

"Ty! Catch!" Thane roared before he threw one of his hook swords to his unarmed cousin. Ty easily reached up and caught the handle of the weapon.

"My, you are a tough one." Jeff taunted as he came in again. "How many walls will you have to go through before you admit defeat and just lay down and die?"

"What are you?" Ty asked, his breathing heavy as he tried to fight away his pain.

His answer was an evil smirk. "Something more than I was before. Try kicking me off a cliff now!" The last part came out in a snarl as Jeff rushed him.

Ty didn't doubt that at all. He was finding out that he was seriously outmatched with this...thing. Blow after blow came in, and Ty found he was seriously struggling to block them. And the ones he did block hurt like a son of a bitch. Whatever Jeff was now, he clearly wasn't human.

Then Ty wasn't alone. Thane stood next to him, his hazel eyes flaring with anger. "Back off you ugly fucktard."

"So impatient to die yourself freak? I had wanted to spare you the agony of death for a while longer yet. No matter, I'll kill you both!" He kicked out, sending Ty crashing into Thane and both of them hit the ground. He relentlessly came in again, his fist held high and ready to deliver a massive hit.

Until a smaller body came somersaulting over him, grabbed that arm and when Lavi hit the ground she pulled him over her body and slammed him into the ground. "Count again you ass hat!" She quickly backflipped away, but not quick enough as a foot caught her in the stomach and connected.

"Ah, the twin sister. Born at the same time and shall die at the same time." Jeff calmly stood up as she went rolling away.

"Lavi!" Ty got to his feet again, his anger fueling him now.

"I'm ok Ty." Came her reply as she stood up, and winced holding her stomach before she fell back down. "I think."

Ty took a deep breath to calm himself. He also found out that break was a mistake when a hand suddenly wrapped around his throat, then began to squeeze. "Tired turtle boy? Run down? Beat up and need to rest?" Jeff pulled him Ty closer to his snarling face. "I don't have that problem anymore." He tilted his head in amusement as Ty struggled for air. "I don't need to breath either."

Thane came in, furiously determined to break that grip and was met with the other hand as it flashed around and sent him to the ground next to Lavi. Ty barely noticed, his fingers digging desperately into the hand that held him. His weakening kicks doing no good on the body in front of him and soon enough his knees gave out from lack of air.

"Leave him alone!" Cindy's voice came across clearly before one of Ty's katana's came down on that arm, and through it. "It's me you want! Leave him alone!"

Ty hit the ground, still trying to get that hand off that hadn't relinquished it's hold.

Jeff turned to Cindy, an amused expression on his face. "Dear little Cindy. You don't understand, do you? You've already been promised to me. But I have to clean up this mess of freakdom before I can claim you and take you back to hell with me." Then he sneered. "But nothing said you had to be in one piece before you get there!" His free hand shot out and grabbed her arm. "I should rip that arm off, just to remind you who is actually in control here."

"Control is an illusion created by your misguided thinking." A new voice firmly said a moment before another katana came in and took the other arm off. Then Ty's father quickly pulled Cindy to him and carefully guided that blade over the fingers, releasing the grip on her arm, then brought it around with extreme precision and released Ty from the same grip.

Ty took in a large breath of air as the hand finally released it's hold because of the lack of fingers, his vision swimming.

Jeff's face actually paled even more than it already was at the sight of the furious father. "You!" A voice other than Jeff's own rang out. A hollow female sounding voice. "I did not know you would be here as well!"

Leonardo's eyes narrowed at the very noticeable change in the voice. "Maybe you should have done your research a bit better before you send your minion to attack my children."

The look of shock didn't fade as Jeff suddenly began to crackle with black energy that drew his dismembered pieces back to him. Then batlike wings sprouted from the man and he quickly flew off into the darkness. Leonardo calmly watch him go until the darkness consumed him, then turned his attention to the younger turtles.

"Jessica!" Ty's father called to the woman who was wrapped in a sheet still as she watched dumfounded from the hole in Thane's wall. "Go get Donnie!"

"Yes sir!" She darted off...still in her sheet.

Ty found himself being lifted to a sitting position by his Father. "You alright son?"

"I...don't know." Ty admitted. "Everything hurts..."

"Not surprising since you went through three walls and took a serious beating." Thane mumbled, holding his arm gingerly. Lavi had hers wrapped firmly around her stomach as she laid on the ground still. "What was that thing Uncle Leo?"

Leonardo sighed as his eyes wandered back to where the wraith disappeared too. "The first sign telling me that they are here." Came the grim reply.

"What makes you say that?"

"One of the horsemen is Death." Came the calm reply. "And something death related brought a dead man back to life."

Ty swallowed hard as he took that information in, but didn't have time to dwell in it as Cindy suddenly flung herself into his arms. He held her to him, trying to control her shaking before he looked quizzically at Thane. "So...you finally managed to hook up with Jessica huh."

Thane blushed and flustered a little before he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah...not the way I wanted you to find out about it though."

Ty and Leo chuckled a little at him before the elder turtle moved to Lavi. "Easy turtle dove. That hit may have cracked your plastron. Lay still until your Uncle can get a look at it."

She just nodded, her face pale from pain.

Lavi didn't have to wait long. A few moments later there was a whole crew heading towards them. Kyle and Emily along with Tony and Donnie. Ari followed a short time later with Adam and the rest of the family.

"What happened?" Uncle Raph thundered as he helped Thane to his feet.

"I'll explain later." Father told him. "Let's make sure they are cared for first."

"Get them inside." Uncle Donnie said as he moved to Lavi. "Carefully." He added as Kyle helped Leonardo pick up the still down turtle girl. "Her plastron is intact but there is probably some serious bruising going on...at the least."

Ty sighed as he was gently guided inside. He had to admit...he was scared. If he came up against that...thing...again, there was no way to beat it. As it was it had been close without Father's timely intervention. Something he seemed to do a lot. But Ty was so glad for that habit of his. The young turtle didn't understand what it was about the mere presence of his Father that scared Jeff off, but he suspected it had something to do with the power given to him. Ty hoped that when it came back again, they would have something figured out incase his Father wasn't near.

.

.

They all looked at Death concerned when she let out a startled hiss.

"What is wrong?" Famine asked.

"This one is indeed very different. For one, he keeps his loved ones very close to him. If the stalker tries to finish the task, it will be destroyed."

"And?" War's eyes narrowed, knowing there was more.

"He is stronger than we thought. The balance flows strongly in him. But there is also something odd about him, as if what I saw was only a part of the whole picture."

"That makes no sense." Pestilence mused. "How can he be powerful with balance but divided at the same time?"

She shook her head, frustration showing for the first time on her face. "I...don't know. We've never encountered one like him before. He isn't even of the same species that infests this world."

Again that unease welled up in War, and that turned into anger as they flew along. "Hold the stalker back. Let him follow but make no more attacks until we can find a way to separate the champion from those he cares for. Eventually he will have to leave them, then it will strike again."

Death just nodded as she sent her instructions to her creation, but even on her normally calm features...doubt was starting to set in.


	37. Chapter 37

Leo waited on the side of the room, leaning against the room with his arms crossed. His normal relaxed position when there wasn't a place to sit, or if he chose not to sit.

Lavi was already resting on one of the beds, sleeping peacefully under Donnie and Tony's watchful eyes. Leo was more than a little thankful that nothing serious had been damaged. But, as Donnie had predicted, she was a little bruised up. If her plastron hadn't taken the brunt of the hit it could have been much worse.

Ty was in just in bad shape. Where Lavi had gotten just one major hit, Ty had suffered several smaller ones. Not to mention the throws through the walls. Thane was also nearby, getting his arm looked at by the shy Emily.

Leo smiled a little at her. She was a very good medic, that he could tell when she nodded confidently at what Donnie told her to do and remembered it well enough to be able to tend the grumbling teen on her own so the more turtle experienced medics could work on Ty and Lavi's injuries. Her calm presence, and her tendency to flinch when Thane got too loud, actually forced the boisterous son of Raph to check his temper.

Raph walked over and joined him against the wall. "You said you would explain later, alright...it's later. What in the hell happened?"

"They were attacked."

Raph snorted. "I gathered that much fearless. But by what?"

Leo shook his head. "By the dead."

Raph gave him a long look. "Leo, I think you need to get checked out too. I think you got hit in the head."

"I'm fine Raph. It ran when it caught sight of me and didn't even try to attack me." Leo looked at Raph then, his gaze serious. "It was Jeff. You know just as well as I do he couldn't have survived that fall. And there was no way he could have done all this and then grow wings and fly off."

"You sure you didn't get hit on the head?"

Leo gave him a level look.

"Ok, fine. So Jeff came back to life somehow and he's stronger and has wings. Now the question is...what do we do about it?"

Leo looked out towards the younger turtles again with a sigh. "I'm not sure Raph. I don't think it's us he's after, not directly. Whoever was controlling him didn't seem to want him to face me."

"Cindy maybe?" Raph's eyes wandered over to the redhead who sat quietly nearby, watching and worrying as Ty was worked on.

"That doesn't sit well either with me. Not after hearing what he said to her. She's the reward, not the mission. That much I could gather."

"It's us Dad." Ty said softly. "Or at least me. He's made numerous references of wanting to take us all out."

"You sure?"

"Oh yeah." Thane growled in agreement. "I've heard a phrase or two myself. He is definitely intent on wiping us all out, except for you guys. Why...that I don't know."

"Not really hard to guess on why." Emily quietly said, then blushed when she realised the elder turtles were looking at her, then her mouth effectively shut.

Leo pushed off of the wall and walked over to the shy girl and turned her away from her task to look at him, but she was too embarrassed to look at him and turned her eyes away.

"Oh no, I won't have none of that." Leo told her with a smile. "Look at me child."

Slowly her eyes raised back up to his. Which was quite a distance since she was a tiny little thing.

"You and Dante are a couple now, right?"

She just nodded, unable to get the words out.

"Then you need to get used to talking to us as well, not just our children. If you have something you feel needs to be said, don't hesitate to make it known. We value every member of this family's input, and I have a feeling you might soon join in...if you haven't already."

Donnie's eyeridge raised at that last bit as he looked at the small woman. It really didn't help her out any when she blushed even redder. Then the other eyeridge came up. "Ah. I think it has gone that far Leo." Emily groaned and hid her face in her hands.

"Really Dad!" Dante flustered as he came in from the next room. "Did you really have to blurt it out to the whole room that we are sexally active?"

Donnie turned his head to slowly look at his son. "I never said you were. I was implying that you two are now a firm item...you are the one who just blurted out what goes on in the bedroom."

Emily was about to cry now even as Raph and Thane were trying not to laugh at the poor girl and Dante.

Leo sighed and pulled Emily into the next room, and away from the argument and teasing that was rapidly filling the one left behind. "Emily, don't listen to them. There is nothing to be embarrassed about." He pulled her over to a couple of chairs that were set up as a waiting area in this room and motioned for her to take a seat in one. She did, sliding quietly into it as he sat down in the one next to her.

He sat there with her for a bit, wondering how to break into that shy shell of hers when he decided on humor. "You want me to hit 'em? I'll go back in and smack them around for you a bit if it'll make you feel better."

She looked up at him in shock a moment before a smile found it's way onto her face. "No." She quietly said, then actually laughed. "You don't have to do that."

"Sure? Won't take any effort at all really."

She laughed again. "Yes Leonardo, I'm sure."

"Ok." He leaned back into his chair and crossed his legs out in front of him. "You just let me know when you change your mind. I'll stand up for you until you feel brave enough to do it on your own."

"I'll remember that." Her eyes sparkled with amusement.

"You do that. Now, let's try this again, what were you trying to say in there before the topic wandered way off in the wrong direction."

She blushed a little again, but made eye contact with him at least. "Well, it's just that everyone who gets to see your inner circle knows how close all of you are. The way a family should be actually, but so many aren't. You obviously care for them, not just Ty and Lavi...but all of them. If I were a bad guy...that's what I would hit. Strike at what they love the most and you demoralize the biggest threat. Take out your wife and children...then what do you have left to fight for? I just think Jeff went after Ty first because of his personal vendetta."

Leo felt a rush of anger flow through him with those words, because he knew deep down she was right. It wasn't just Ty and Lavi, all of them were in danger. Amy, Dennis, Vicky, his niece and nephews, Cris, Marina and Cait. All of them were targets now. This was so much more serious than everything similar that has happened before. They could protect themselves now for the most part. But they couldn't protect themselves against this, and that frightened him to no end.

Emily nervously watched him finally accept what he hadn't wanted to before. He had somehow deep inside hoped that his family would be spared getting involved with this, had even planned later on to leave them behind to keep them out of the main fight he knew they would try and interfere with. But how could he do that now? How could he leave them anywhere if it was his presence that kept that thing away? He sighed and rubbed his face in frustration.

And how many now exactly were targets? Who would Jeff go after? Just his family or the humans who were beginning to form bonds with the younger members? Like Emily here. Was she now also at risk because she chose to show her affection to one of his family members? Kyle? Jessica? Adam? How many would he have to look out for now?

"Leonardo?" Emily spoke up, nervous now that the turtle next to her was brooding. "S-should I leave?"

He shook himself out of his frustrated anger and gave her a reassuring smile. "No child. I'm not upset with you so there is no reason for you to go. And I don't want you too really. I've been so caught up in the events unfolding around me that I haven't been able to spend any time with you or the others. I would like to get to know you better."

She blushed even harder. "Nothing about me to really know." She mumbled out.

"Of course there is. I already know you are very intelligent, or you wouldn't have gotten drafted in the middle of your training. When you have to be you are calm, confident and quick with descisions. But that's the professional you, I want to get to know the everyday you."

She looked at him a long while, not really sure what to say, or embarrassed to share anything of her personal life. "Well... I uh... I like to read. And I like to ride horses. My parents own a ranch in Montana and I grew up riding."

"See? Already two things about you I didn't know."

Emily smiled a bit at him. "And I really like your nephew."

"That is already very obvious." Leo chuckled.

The door opened and another newcomer to his family entered the room, now properly dressed. Jessica came in, her eyes more than a little worried. "Oh, hey... Didn't mean to interrupt anything."

This one Leo knew even less of. It was with a bit of startlement that he was noticing how much he had missed as he wallowed in his own personal struggles. So much had happened on the sidelines. "You're not. I was just taking the time to get caught up on some things is all."

"Don't be picking on my boy's girl Leo." Raph told him from the doorway.

"I'm not. I'm pretty much over the embarrassing them part. The relationships have obviously progressed further than that." He looked at the two women with a rueful expression. "And I missed it."

"Finally coming out of you self pity pit?"

Leo shrugged. "Had to eventually I suppose."

"How's Thane?" Jessica asked the large turtle leaning in the doorframe.

"He'll be fine." Raph answered her, his tone somewhat gentle as he did. "He was surprisingly lucky."

Leo raised his eyeridge at his brother and the change in his demeanor.

"What? He went through a lot of effort to catch her eye. Not sure he would appreciate me scaring her off again."

Leo laughed lightly as he got back to his feet. "I think you are letting that soft spot show Raph. Better not let Mikey find out."

"Then you better not tell him...or I'll knock both your heads together."

Speaking of the devil... Mikey came bursting in next, and didn't slow down one bit as he rushed by them all. "Donnie! Help!"

Leo and Raph exchanged amused looks as they followed with Emily and Jessica.

"What now?" Donnie sounded a little exasperated at the interruption as he checked over Lavi.

"It burns!" Mikey replied.

"What burns!"

"My mouth! Make it stop!"

"Will you stop babbling and calm down! What's wrong?"

"My damn mouth is on fire! That's what's wrong!"

Caitlin came walking in, her face a little furious as she held a tube of toothpaste in her hand. "Mikey, I usually don't mind these prank wars...but I draw the line when someone puts pepper, cayenne by the looks of it, in the stuff I use." She threw the tube at him and turned and stormed back out again. "I refuse to be collateral damage!"

"Buuuuusted..." Thane and Raph mumbled together.

"Cayenne pepper isn't _that_ bad." Ty grinned from where he was sitting.

Donnie picked up the tube of toothpaste and squeezed some out. "It is when you got this much in it." Then he dropped it again as he cracked up laughing.


	38. Chapter 38

It was later, almost sunrise, when Will found Leo on the rooftop as he quietly looked out. The injured teens had all been cared for and were now sleeping, Ty and Lavi with the help of some painkillers. Even now Leo wasn't far from them, standing on the roof right over the room they were being watched by Donnie and Tony.

"Hey, sorry to intrude on your solitude." Will said as he walked up.

"It's fine." Leo turned to face him. "Wasn't really doing anything anyway besides watching."

"Something you always seem do do." Will chuckled.

"Someone has to watch over this wild bunch." Leo grinned. "They tend to get out of control if you don't...even at this age." He wryly remembered the destroyed new training room.

"I can only imagine. They going to be ok?"

"Donnie assures me they are. With time and rest."

Will shook his head. "Three walls, your boy went through three fucking walls. And he walks away from it."

"Because he has a carapace Will. And he still ended up with plenty of injuries to show for it." Leo chuckled. "That's not even the record. Raph once went through five during a fight."

Will just stared at him. "I don't even want to know."

"Probably best you didn't." Leo grinned at him. "Walking turtles are bad enough to handle. Not sure how you would feel about rhinos and warthogs."

"Anyway." Will changed the subject then. "Blaster managed to find something I think you should see."

Leo looked at him curiously and Will handed over the piece of paper he had been holding. Except it wasn't a piece of paper, it was a picture.

"This was taken earlier tonight by one of our satellites a few hundred miles north of here, and they seem to be heading towards the mainland."

The image on that paper held Leo's attention. It might have totally gone unnoticed, if it wasn't for the line of fire flaring up in the darkened sky. And he also knew it wasn't him or his brothers out there blowing it around. His eyes narrowed as he made out the four figures barely captured in the light of the fire. "I had feared as much."

"You think it's them?"

"Almost has to be. Unless we were out sleepflying. Any idea where they are heading?"

Will shook his head. "All I can tell you is that they are heading for the California coast. Where they will go from there...I don't know."

"I don't suppose there is anyway to track them either."

"Not really. That image was a lucky shot as it was. If it hadn't been dark out, they would have never been noticed."

Leo sighed as he lowered the picture again and looked out. "And I can't even follow them. Not now. If we go that leaves the rest of my family defenseless against this...thing Jeff has become. Something strongly tells me we haven't seen the last of it."

"I'm guessing that's the reason for the late night vigil?"

"You guess correctly. I can't leave them. Especially not with those three in the shape they are in. But I may have too if we are supposed to face them."

"Yeah...about that..." Will tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I think there might be a way to get ahead of them...and get the Dinobots off of the island without having to haul them on ships or tie them to fifty freakin Chanooks."

Leo looked back at him curiously.

Will thought a moment, still tapping away. "We've been working on something for a long time now, but never could get it together with the stuff we have available here. But we think we've managed to finally figure it out, just haven't tested it yet."

"Oh? And what are we talking about?"

"It's a nifty lil thing...if it works. You ever hear of a ground bridge?

"Can't say that I have."

"Well...lucky you. You get to try it out first. Already got Wheeljack, Blaster and Ratchet fine tuning it. Should be ready in a few hours... If Wheeljack doesn't blow it up."

"How convenient." Leo muttered. "Almost too convenient that you get that working right when we need it the most."

"I know...freaked me out too. Been trying since before we even met you to get that damn thing to work...then just overnight Blaster sends a message saying 'Hey...we got it. It was really something so stupid and minor we were over looking'. I'm thinking some divine fingers might still be pulling some strings honestly for that to happen."

Leo shifted his gaze from the horizon to the stars. For a moment, one shone very brightly as if acknowledging the conclusion Will had come up with. Leo felt a small smile form on his lips. "Somehow Will...I don't doubt that."

.

.

I watched as the small blue glow happened in front of us, then flared to open into a wide portal. "This is pretty neat." I grinned. "Never thought I would get to see a real life ground bridge."

Cris gave me that 'are you kidding me' look. "Vicky, nothing should surprise you anymore...but yet it continuously does."

I shrugged as I grinned at her. "Blame it on my inner child."

"I blame it on your inner idiot."

It was a bright sunny morning. A cheerful kind of morning... Yes...I know... A contradictory in terms coming from me. A morning that made what happened last night seem like a bad dream, right up to the point Leo and Mikey were helping two obviously stiff and sore twins outside to where we were. Thane right behind them with Jessica holding his good hand. That actually shocked me a bit. Raph wouldn't be caught dead doing that...but Thane didn't seem to mind. Maybe he wasn't quite as uptight as his Dad afterall.

We had decided to try this outside. For two reasons. If something went wrong it wouldn't take out the base and the Dinobots didn't have to squeeze their frames inside the base that was too small. That's how big they were.

"Whoa. That's pretty cool." Mikey noted as they drew closer, then he handed Lavi off to Leo and stood right in front of it. "You sure it's safe though? As old as Ratchet is...it might be good to double check."

A wrench came flying through and Mikey squealed as he scrambled out of the way of it's flight path.

"That answer your question?" Raph smirked at his little brother.

"Wait..he can hear us?" Mikey looked a little confused over that fact.

"He can if I let him listen in on the conversation over the comm." Sides grinned at him.

Mikey glared up at him. "You... You better double check your oil. Never know when vegetable oil will replace motor oil in that next oil change."

Caitlin came over then, and to my complete and utter shock...smacked him in the back of the head. " _One_ prank war is bad enough! Don't you start another!"

Sides, Ari and Adam all lost it when they saw the expression on Mikey's face. He was even more shocked than I was.

"I think we just found Caitlin's patience limit." Leo said with a straight face...though he was trying hard not to laugh.

"I'm surprised she hasn't killed him by now myself." Raph said amused as he crossed his arms.

Hide let out an irritated vent over it all, then looked at the ground bridge. "It's so nice to know his wrench throwing distance has been expanded."

The next wrench that came through actually hit it's target that time and nailed Hide upside the head.

"Sideswipe! Stop feeding him the conversation!" Hide bellowed and Sides' laughed even harder.

"Oh, for the love of Primus..." Jolt sighed and stepped through.

Somehow we all made it through without any further wrench damage and walked into the large open area outside the first base we arrive at. It felt strange being back here after being on the road for so long.

"Hey! You made it!" Blaster grinned at us as we began to file through with our gear, looking like we were coming back from a damn ruck march actually.

"Barely." I replied. "Had a few close calls a time or two."

"That's what keeps life interesting."

"I'll be happy with boring for a bit honestly."

Ratchet immediately made his way to the twins and Thane, scanning away. Donnie rolled his eyes a little at that as he walked by. "He's acting like I haven't been patching up this family by myself for the last thirty years or so."

"Stop being a patient hog." Marina replied, giving him a slight push. "He's just concerned is all."

Apparently satisfied that they indeed were healing properly, Ratchet finally turned away from his scans. "I recommend that you two take it easy."

Donnie mimicked the med bot from behind. Then got a straight face when Ratchet turned to look at him suspiciously.

Ratchet narrowed his eyes then turned to Thane. "And you, try not to use that arm."

Yup...Donnie did it again...and got caught. His feet moved very quickly to avoid that wrench too.

"War of the medics!" Mikey grinned.

Leo and I exchanged a long look and rolled our eyes. "I know what you two need." I quickly changed the subject as I moved over to Lavi. "You'd be surprised what a long, hot bath will do for sore muscles. And I do believe we have the facilities to accommodate for that here." My mind wandered to that bathtub in our room. To be honest...I was wanting a bath too.

Lavi eyed her two overbearing doctors, then quickly agreed. "Yeah...I'd like a bath."

"Fine." I smiled sweetly at Ratchet and Donnie, knowing this was going to set them off. "And you can have it in my bathroom, where your Father and I can make sure you will be left alone."

Ratchet glared at me. "She should be resting in my med bay. And that's where she will be going."

I kept that smile...but answered through clenched teeth. "You want to take a bet on that? I'll wager you one wrench whack against one dragon tail swipe that she'll take a bath in _my_ bathroom. And when she's done, Ty will. And then they will sleep...also in our room. If they need something, we will come and get someone but I'm not going to make them stay in med bay where they won't even be allowed to go to the bathroom in peace!"

To back me up...Leo's eyes were already glowing that blue color, and it was slowly spreading.

"Did I also mention that Leo is pretty good with slapping bots around with that tail?"

Ratchet's eyes narrowed angrily, but he did turn away and stomped off. Muttering to himself the whole time.

I was actually a bit surprised by that. First time I managed to bully the biggest bully. With help anyway, but I was going to take any win I could with Ratchet.

Leo let his glow fade and calmly turned to help Ty along again.

Mikey was laughing, hard. "Teach him to come in between turtle parents and their kids!"

He was laughing so hard that he wasn't paying attention...and the wrench that came in hit him, knocking him into the trees and bushes behind us. "I'm ok!" Came from his unseen body.

Tony walked over to him, shaking his head. "Michelangelo, ol' buddy, one of these days that mouth is going to get you into a jam you can't get out of."

Mikey's head popped up from behind some bushes. "Pfft. The day that happens...I'll give up pranking."


	39. Chapter 39

Leo sat, his eyes closed, the back of his hands on his knees and the tips of his thumb and finger gently touching as he let out a calm breath, then took in another. The rustle of the indoor fountain sitting next to his meditation area soothing him along with the eucalyptus scented candles lit in the darkened room. His wife was enjoying her own bath and the twins were both sleeping on the king sized bed, and his mind was free to wander his inner depths as all was quiet around him.

He hadn't been able to meditate much while on the road, and this was the first time since he had gotten his powers that he had been able to do so. He still knew so little about everything that was going on, still didn't fully understand what had been given to him, but he knew it was there and tried this way to explore it further. He didn't know what to expect and was completely surprised when he sensed wry amusement in a quiet corner of himself that now housed that inner dragon.

 _'Mizuchi?'_

 _'I see you have found a way to reach me.'_ Mizuchi's voice echoed quietly in his head. _'I had wondered how long it would take you.'_

 _'Well, I do apologize for making you wait but I didn't even know you were there in my head.'_

 _'You misunderstand waterwalker. I do not reside inside you, as I have told you before I will not do that, but we do share a link through the gem itself. It is through that doorway that I reach out to you now.'_

 _'I'll just take your word for it.'_

 _'You seem troubled.'_

 _'I am.'_

 _'What disturbs you?'_

 _'Everything still I guess. I still don't understand the full potential. I know what we were given will be, already is, a powerful tool. But I can't help but feel that there is more to it. Something that Amaterasu hasn't had the chance to explain to us yet.'_

 _'But that is not all, is it?'_

 _'No, it's not. I freely sacrifice what I must to do this, I have made that very clear. But now my family is in danger, and their lives I will not risk.'_

 _'Not even for the sake of the world?'_

It hung there between them a moment before Leo let out a frustrated sigh. _'Why do you all demand so much of us? Isn't what we agreed to enough? Must my family also suffer?'_

 _'Calm yourself waterwalker. I was merely trying to determine the depth of your devotion. I have no intention of letting your loved ones come to harm. I understand that your will will be weakened if that comes to pass, and they have done nothing to deserve that fate. Most gods may be indifferent to the concerns of mortals, but the spirits see things in a different way. What has happened to force these worries upon you?'_

 _'You don't already know?'_ Leo was a little shocked over that.

 _'No waterwalker. I may be connected to you, but that does not mean I see everything you do. When you are in your normal form my eyes are closed to your world, only when you take the form of the dragon can I see clearly. The spirit realm is my home, not here. There I can keep with events as they unfold, here I need the guidance of you or Amaterasu.'_

Suddenly Leo understood something that had been troubling him since that first change. _'It's you that is blocking Vicky out...'_

 _'Indeed. And I do so for her safety, not out of spite. It is your mind and body I have connected with to help you absorb the power given to you. She has no such protection. If she were to enter your mind when you are in that form, the power would flow across that bond and overwhelm her. I do not wish to see that happen, because the result will be her death.'_

Leo swallowed real hard at that revelation. There was definitely more to this than he at first thought. _'I...understand. I don't like it, but I understand. That isn't the only thing though. There has been something set against my family. My children and nephew have already been attacked once and there are implications that it will happen again. They can't fight it. But what ever is guiding it fled with it when I arrived. This is what worries me, if we leave them to fight the heralds...'_

 _'Then they might come under attack again. I see the dilemma.'_ Leo clearly felt the anger coming from the spirit as he thought that over. _'This is not right, but it is how the agents of chaos operate.'_

 _'But..what can I do...'_

 _'You will not like this answer waterwalker, but there is nothing you can do.'_

Leo immediately bristled. That was an answer he was not going to accept.

 _'So quick to anger over an answer I have not finished giving.'_ Now he felt that wry amusement again. _'Your task has already been laid out in front of you. But that does not mean others haven't taken on their own tasks. It has been long in knowing that you care deeply for those around you and it has been seen too. I have been sworn not to reveal all to you, but you must trust in me when I say that when the time comes the answers you seek will become clear.'_

 _'Must you be so cryptic?'_

 _'Unfortunately...yes. Let me explain on why. You already know the limitations placed on you by untrusting gods. These same gods have forced certain coercions out of myself and my kin also. We are forbidden to reach out to contact you, out of fear that we may guide you towards the destruction of mankind or some such nonsense.'_ The sarcasm in his voice was very hard to overlook.

 _'But you are talking to me now.'_

 _'Because_ you _sought_ me _out waterwalker. That they did not think of, along with other things. Shortsighted fools.'_

Leo bit his tongue trying not to laugh. It seems that he wasn't the only one with a low opinion of the gods that helped Amaterasu.

 _'But it restricts me enough to where I cannot reveal all. I do not wish to clue in the gods that we do have contact despite their efforts to hinder it. We must act as if you only know what was revealed to you by the goddess in the cave or they will try and sever this form of communication. Anything I do tell you is something you will eventually figure out on your own, it just saves time if I guide your thinking in the right direction beforehand.'_

 _'I really don't like being led around by the nose.'_

 _"Nor do I like doing so. It breeds mistrust where it is not wanted. But you have my word of honor that I will do everything I can to help you, and so shall my kin.'_

 _'I appreciate that.'_

 _'I know.'_

 _'I do have a question though. You said my worries about my family have been seen too, but yet the children were on their own.'_

 _'They were not. Were you and your brothers not near?'_

 _'Yes, we were.'_

 _'Then that was all that was needed.'_

 _'Are you serious? Do you have any idea what could have happened to them if I didn't show up?!'_

 _'But you did show and foiled that attempt. Again, I cannot reveal more on the matter. I told you you would not like the answer, but it is all I can give.'_

 _'You have got to be kidding me...'_

 _'I did not make these foolish rules waterwalker, do not blame me.'_

 _'Fine...'_ Leo was getting a damn headache from all this bullshit _._

 _'One more thing. This from Amaterasu personally. She somehow sensed that you would be able to find a way around this restriction at least and wanted me to pass on a few words of hers to you.'_

 _'And that is?'_

 _'You are correct. There is more to what was given to you. Again, I cannot fully divulge the secret, I can just guide you on the path to unlock it.'_

Leo sighed. More riddles. _'I'm listening.'_

 _'You do understand that it is the essence of elemental balance that has been given to you, correct?'_

 _'Yes. I do understand that. She told us that it reflects what is in us.'_

 _'Indeed it does. You are very well matched with your elements. Do not let the might of the dragons force you into forgetting how you have overcome all the other obstacles you faced. Fight as dragons as you would fight as normal mortals.'_

 _'What? You want us to fight as turtles? I...don't understand...'_

 _'You will when the time comes you silly thing. And that is not what I said. I did not say revert to your true form, I said fight the same way you would in those forms. And when you do the full might of your power will be revealed.'_

 _'I thought it already was...'_

Mizuchi actually laughed in amusement _. 'Not quite.'_

That revelation actually stunned Leo into silence. What more could there possibly be to this? Wasn't the dragons and the abilities to control the elements enough? Apparently not. And that had him wondering again just what exactly were they facing.

 _'Something that no other has yet been able to defeat. You and your brothers are not the first to recieve this power waterwalker. Many before you have held the power on worlds you do not even know about, and never will due to their destruction. But you are different. You have something the other champions did not have.'_

 _'I'm scared to ask what it is.'_

 _'As if you do not already know. The answer is known to you, it just has been buried deep inside as your family grew. But the original core remains just as strong as it did that first time you rose up from the depths below and started your war against those who wish innocents harm. Where the other champions have faced this threat alone, you have the core of brotherhood at your center. This gives Amaterasu hope that you will succeed where the others have failed.'_

 _'But also puts a great burden on our shoulders.'_

 _'That I do not disagree with. The task will be far from easy.'_

 _'But easier now that I understand it a bit better...somewhat. I still wish we didn't have to tiptoe around every damn topic.'_

Mizuchi chuckled in reply. _'Trust me waterwalker, the gods are not as clever as they seem to think they are. There are ways around all restrictions if the game is played right.'_

Leo just sighed. He was tired of games all together. _'Will you always be available if I need you?'_

 _'Only when you silence your mind as you have done now. Otherwise I will have to come to you, and this breaks the agreement. But know that if you do have a quiet moment, I shall be waiting.'_ Mizuchi grew quiet then and Leo knew the conversation was over.

When he opened his eyes again he found Vicky standing in front of him now clean, in frsh clothes and her damp hair surrounding her face, watching quietly. "You closed the door on me. I thought Ratchet came in here to try and take the twins and you went dragon on him or something."

He smiled at her. "No dear one. There would have been roars and fires and half the building collapsing on your head if that's what happened."

"Smartass."

He shrugged. "We all have our Mikey moments."

"So what were you doing then?"

Leo grew quiet a moment as he quickly thought over the conversation he just had. "Getting some advice." He finally answered.

"I don't suppose you feel like telling me from who."

"I don't think I should, not right now anyway."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, did you at least get something useful out of it?"

"Yes...and no." He sighed as he stood up then went to take the brush from her hand. He did it so often that he didn't even think about it anymore as he began to work it through her hair. "I know I'm going to have to leave all of you to do what needs to be done, there is no way around that."

"What about that...thing?" She asked, her anger quickly riseing. And for good reason. "How are we supposed to fight that off?"

He shook his head, not sure what to tell her. Because he didn't even know the clear answer to that. But he did trust the spirit, he just wished that these damn gods didn't play this stupid fucking game. It made everything so much harder to deal with for everyone.


	40. Chapter 40

"What do you mean it lost them!" War roared at Death.

"I mean just that!" She snapped back at him, her never ending patience beginning to end. "They are no longer at the base! Nether the champion nor his kin are at that location!"

"How could this be! Not even the gods could give them the powers to just vanish!"

"This champion is indeed proving to be quite the challenge." Pestilence quietly noted. "Perhaps more so than we had anticipated."

"Find them!" War bellowed at all of them. "I don't care what you have to do, but find them!"

All three winced at his tone. He was not the most patient leader under normal circumstances...and this was rapidly becoming anything but normal for them.

"The stalker already moves again." Death told him after quietly communicating with her pet. "It suspects it might know where they have gone, but the distance between them is now very great. It will take time."

"Time is something we begin to run out of." War snapped back at her. "Even now does he enter this planetary system."

"He is so close already?" Famine asked him with shock.

"Yes! And we have done nothing to prepare this planet for his arrival!"

"Then we must act quickly." Pestilence determined as they landed their mounts on a high ridge in the California mountain range. "We may have to engage the planets defense systems before the stalker finishes it's task."

"Not something I wish to do with the champion at full strength." Famine muttered quietly.

"We have beat them before without the aid of a stalker." Death reminded him.

War's eyes narrowed shrewdly as he listened. "But...it will draw him away from the targets the stalker seeks. That may work to our advantage."

"He fights with us and the stalker moves against his loved ones..." Death purred. "That may very well work."

War had an evil gleam in his eye now as he thought this through. "Yes...to see his loss on his face in the middle of combat, then take his life from him. That will indeed be a worthy repayment for the hassle he has put us through."

The four exchanged knowing grins of anticipation.

"Death, do you know the location of the base they retreated to?"

"Vaguely, but let me summon our guide who is more familiar with the surrounding terrain." Her eyes crackled a moment with dark energy and her tiny creation once again stood in front of her. "Well met little one. A slight change of plans, you will accompany us."

"Very well mistress. The bargain still remains the same?"

"It does. You have played your part to perfection as well as your abilities allow. Let my comrades and I remove the one obstacle out of your path, then your strike will be able to hit it's mark."

"As you command mistress."

She motioned for him to join her on top of her beast and he flew up and settled in front of the saddle, then the four once again took to the air, eastward under the guidance of the one who was now eagerly awaiting another chance to face Ty. This time the half breed freak wouldn't live through the meeting.

.

.

It was late evening now and Leo found that he wasn't the only restless one. He found his three unusually solemn brothers with a just as quite Prime. All of them looking upward.

"You said what." Raph said as Leo joined them. He really didn't phrase it as a question as his eyes narrowed.

"He is close...and is closing in quickly." Prime told him again, those blue eyes of his searching the skies.

Donnie looked up at him perplexed at that statement. "But nothing is showing up on any kind of feeds or equipment. You would think one of those satellites or space probes out there would pick him up."

Leo was shaking his head even as Donnie spoke those words. "Donnie, his underlings already came down three times that we know of without any warning. Twice they directly tried to engage us. It's not to hard to come to the conclusion that Unicron himself is avoiding detection somehow."

"He is close enough now to where the matrix begins to react to his presence." Prime answered Donnie's question.

"We're running out of time." Leo added as his own eyes looked skyward. "We know what we are supposed to do, have you given any thought to how you are going to handle the larger part of this?"

Silence was the only answer for a long while before the large Bot spoke again. "There is nothing we can do to his body that will harm him enough to bring him down. The key lies into gaining access to his spark chamber and fight him from within."

Raph just stared at him incredulously. "You mean you have to get _inside_ of him?"

"Yes."

"And how do you expect to pull that off without him swatting you like a damn gnat?"

"We could build a big robot." Mikey piped in. "Then hide the Bots in it's nose and have it sneeze on him."

"Oh good god..." Raph facepalmed. "We are all going to die if that's the best we can come up with."

"Shoot him in there." Donnie shrugged.

Raph lowered his hand and looked at Donnie with the disbelief he was still feeling. "You got a gun big enough?"

Prime actually smiled down at them. "Michelangelo's suggestion comes the closest."

Mikey wasn't the only one who looked surprised at that. "It does?" The youngest asked baffled.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Raph mumbled.

"But we will not have to build him, he already exists. And he will not 'sneeze' us in there."

The turtles just looked at each other. "You have a robot the size of a planet?" Mikey finally asked.

"Not quite, but one large enough to aid in this matter."

Before Prime could answer further, Epps came walking up with a very stunned Cris. "Prime! Florida just called. Omega Supreme is there, prepped and ready whenever you are."

"Ortega who?" Raph asked.

"Omega Supreme you dipshit." Cris told him. "One of the biggest bots Prime has in his arsenal...you thought Jetfire was huge..."

"Oh... Why are you so worried about this Unicorn guy-

"Unicron." Donnie corrected him.

"Whatever! Why are you so worried about him if you got all these big beasts for machines?"

"Because Unicron dwarfs them all you dunce." Cris shook her head. "Seeing Jetfire was almost enough to blow my mind, and Omega comes close to pushing the sanity limit on how big a life form can get. I can't imagine how big Unicron is...it refuses to process."

Raph stared at her long and hard at that statement. It was finally sinking in on him how big this living disaster really was... Leo was more than a little uneasy himself. And he thought the heralds were bad enough... Prime's task vastly outweighed their own.

Task that seemed almost impossible when Donnie's eyes grew suddenly very wide. "Look..." He pointed with a shaking hand.

All of their eyes went skywards to where he was pointing, and you could see a small globe in the distance.

Leo stared at it, his sense of dread rapidly rising. "We are out of time..."

Prime didn't even acknowledge that statement before he took off running, calling for every single Bot he had gathered at the base as he went. Dinobots included.

Raph shook himself out of his stupor. "Holy mother of all hells..."

Even Mikey was speechless. He looked from that ominous globe to Leo, his eyes wide and fear replacing his normal cheery innocence. "Leo..."

"Stay calm Mikey." Leo's eyes narrowed. "I have a feeling our turn is coming rapidly as well and that's what we need to focus on." Then he turned and ran as well, grabbing Cris' arm as he passed her and drug her along. "Get everyone together. I don't want to have to go looking all over this base for them when the time comes." Something else besides his leadership instincts was guiding him now, something he actually took great comfort in.

"Where do we take them?" Donnie asked, easily keeping pace with his brother.

"Med bay. It's the largest room we have and there are going to be a lot of troops we need to shelter, not just our own family."

His brothers nodded and split up with Epps to go round everyone up. Soon after directions were being blared over the P.A. system telling Bots to meet at the ground bridge and everyone else to meet into med bay. Soon enough there was organized chaos everywhere as the base exploded into action.

He found Vicky hurriedly pushing their four children in front of her in the corridor outside of med bay. Ty was already moving a lot better on his feet, his mutagen influenced body already shaking off the injuries. Lavi was still a little pale, but she was also running smoothly on her own.

"What's going on Leo?" Cindy asked as she followed the turtle family.

He smiled that the girl felt familiar with him enough to address him by his nickname, and sadness took hold of him that he probably wouldn't get to hear her use it very often. "Our hand has been forced." Was all he said. It was all he needed to say. They all understood.

Ratchet was in his domain, bellowing orders at everyone he suddenly had to deal with trying to get them all in the most secure area.

"You sure about this Leo?" Raph asked as the last of their family had been herded inside. "Being in here might not be the best place for them when this smackdown happens."

"I don't want them out there Raph. This is the most secure area. I refuse to believe that Ratchet didn't have this room reinforced to protect any potential patients if the base came under attack."

"Should we at least call some other bots in to help us hold it?"

"Raph, Prime needs them. And I seriously doubt they are going to stop what's about to happen. The heralds are our responsibility, not theirs."

"It's too late anyway." Blaster said as he joined them. "They've already gone through the ground bridge. We are on our own. You sure about this Leo?"

"Personally, no. But someone else is telling me this is the right way."

Blaster looked at him funny, but didn't push the issue.

"Where's Kyle?" Lavi suddenly asked her eyes looking around with worry.

"He's with Will and Epps, someone had to stay in the main control room to activate the ground bridge."

Lavi immediately went for the door only to have her way blocked by her Father. "I'll go get them. You stay here turtle dove."

"But, Dad..."

Her protest cut off when she caught the firm, confident look on his face. His eyes already slightly glowing. "Stay child." something other than his voice said. "The time draws nigh."

Lavi looked at him in shock, shock that grew even more when she saw her Uncle's eyes had also slightly lit up. "Mom..."

Vicky didn't answer but did pull her daughter close as Leo turned towards the door. Both of them holding each other tight as he disappeared from their view.

It didn't take Leo long to track them down, they were right outside and already making their way towards med bay. But they weren't quick enough as the first rumble echoed across the ground. Leo calmly turned to see what had caused that rumble even as Kyle's face paled. "Lord help us..."

They were large. Each individual could easily give Grimlock a hard time size wise. Wings the shape of a demon's sprouted out of their back and their eyes glowed eerie colors as they gazed down at the so tiny to them turtle. Larger still were they if you included their mounts. Large metal half horse, half dragon contraptions. It was those hybrids that shook the ground again as they impatiently pawed at the earth, fire snorting out of their nostrils. Leo knew he was looking at the heralds, he could feel their essence of chaos clearly. Something that his entire presence wanted to lash out at.

"This? This tiny thing is the champion?" The one with glowing red eyes asked incredulous. "This is the one we have feared we could not bring low?"

"It is." The slimmest one replied. Leo narrowed his eyes. He knew that voice. She was the one who had sent Jeff after his family.

"I'll only warn you once." Leo told them. "Begone from here."

The large one spoke again, his tone taunting now. "You shall command War to do nothing pitiful creature. You just made our task ridiculously easy. We didn't need the stalker afterall. You foolishly gathered everyone you hold dear, and now we will destroy them all in one stroke." Their hands raised and large beams of energy ripped from them to hit the building Leo had housed everyone. The building held against that onslaught for a few moments before it collapsed, surely crushing everyone who was found inside.

The only sound after that was Kyle's anguished cry as he watched everyone he was close too be crushed under the weight of the rubble that had once been a large, sturdy building.


	41. Chapter 41

Ironhide let out a frustrated vent at the scene playing out in front of him. How hard was it to get one Dinobot inside of a fragging rocket? Very hard apparently.

"Me Grimlock don't want to go inside! Me Grimlock want to fight!" He was standing firm on the loading ramp with his arms crossed in refusal, his red eyes glaring at everyone who had tried to convince him the fight was on the other end of the trip.

"You have to get on the rocket to get to the fight you glitch!" The weapons specialist finally lost his limited patience.

"Me Grimlock don't like you yelling. Maybe me Grimlock bite you again. You still taste like energon?"

Sideswipe snickered at that one as Ironhide flatly looked up at the large Bot. "Get on the rocket!"

Grimlock's glare deepened as he stared Hide down, but someone else was getting impatient with waiting for the Dinobot leader. Scorn came up and squarely kicked Grimlock in the aft to get him moving.

"Snackbot say fight up there, we go up there! Scorn tired of listening to Grimlock whine like sparkling."

Grimlock promptly turned and punched his fellow Dinobot. "Me Grimlock do what me Grimlock want!"

"Slug shut Grimlock up!" The third Dinobot grumbled before he turned into his triceratops form and rammed into Grimlock, then lifted his head. The result of that being he carried the wildly protesting leader into the patiently waiting Omega Supreme.

Strafe and Bumblebee shared an amused look at that before they followed Scorn up the ramp.

"Primus help us all." Ironhide muttered as he made his way inside.

Optimus was the last one to enter once he had everyone he needed inside and not long after Omega began to shake as he fought against the pull of gravity to lift himself and his cargo off of the ground. The Dinobot bickering continued even as they were lifted high into the air, much to Ironhide's frustration. Did he really have to come along for this one?

One look ahead of him as they cleared the atmosphere clearly gave him answer. Yes, he did. Unicron had already drawn so much closer and Ironhide could only stare at what he was seeing. He also began to wonder if this mission was no more than a suicide attempt. Even his towering confidence had trouble sticking around as they closed in on their adversary.

The only thing that silenced his doubt, somewhat, was the calm, composed stance of Prime as he patiently waited for their ride to get them close enough. Ironhide wished he could say he felt the same as his leader did, but he didn't.

.

.

The heralds stood in front of Leo, their faces twisted with evil glee at the fact that they took out every one Leo cared about in one strike. They expected this to be the blow that would give them an edge over this already disadvantaged turtle. They watched Leo as he stood there with his eyes closed, waiting for the pain of his loss to become clear. Anticipating to relish in his grief before they put the now worthless champion out of his misery.

Kyle was standing behind Leo with a stunned and grief stricken Will and Epps, his face clearly showing the effects of the building's collapse as he stared at the ruins. This was what they were hoping to see on the turtle. This was not what they were going to get.

When Leo finally opened his eyes they lit up the night around him they were glowing so bright. Those eyes raised to look at the heralds, completely unafraid. Anger was in his features, that same anger that had fueled him every time someone struck out against his family, but it was so much more potent now.

Will was the first one to feel it and snapped himself out of his shock enough to begin to pull Epps and Kyle as far away as he could.

That glow grew to surround the rest of Leo as he spoke. "You were warned. That was the only one that was going to be given to you. You should have listened to it."

This wasn't what the heralds expected to hear, nor see. So many times before had this worked in their favor that they could not comprehend why it didn't this time.

"Does he not care for them?" Famine asked. "Why does this not phase him?"

"On the contrary." Leo replied, his glow growing brighter. "I care for them very much. But you assumed I'm the only one that does, that was your biggest mistake."

"What?" Pestilence didn't understand and it was painfully obvious. The blue glowing turtle just smiled slightly at him, a smile tinged with pity of all things.

Leo didn't answer verbally, but someone else did. There was a loud roar from behind him before the top of the debris pile suddenly was scattered off with a powerful blow from within. That power being from purple tinted wings as the earth dragon flung the remains off of him. Donnie straightened fully then, easily towering over the building remains and revealed the numerous individuals that he had shielded, even as Mikey and Raph came walking out to join Leo, their eyes also brightly glowing. Donnie cleared a path through the rubble for the humans under his protection to escape the unstable pile before he calmly leapt out and landed behind his not yet transformed brothers.

"Four?" Death's black eyes grew wide. "There are four of them?"

"How can this be?" Famine could not wrap his head around what he was seeing as he stared at Donnie. "How can the power be split among four of them? And then be given the most powerful spirits of all... The dragon..."

"It does not matter!" War bellowed. "One, or four, the champion will still fall!"

"Our turn." Raph snarled.

"Indeed." Leo agreed calmly.

That blue glow brightened now tinged with red and orange as his brothers joined him and when it finally dimmed, there were now four dragons facing off against the heralds.

War roared his own anger and led the charge, fully intending to run down the blue banded dragon in front of him.

But the dragons weren't going to make it so easy, that became clear just as soon as a tail came whipping around and slammed into War and his mount, sending both to the ground and taking out numerous trees from the forest around the base in the process. Leo's head was high after that blow. His wings lightly flared, he stood staring the leader down as steam escaped from his nostrils as they flared in anger and determination.

"Very well beast!" War came to his feet, a large battleaxe now in his hands. "Come and face your doom!"

Leo did just that without hesitation, leading his own charge with his own roar.

And the orb in the sky grew slowly bigger as their master drew ever nearer.

.

.

Ty himself didn't have time to look on as the dragons engaged. He was busy helping his mother and aunts try and get everyone out of the immediate danger area. Which given the sizes of what was out there was going to be a very large area indeed.

"Down!" Blaster suddenly hollared over the commotion.

All of them had trained intensely in various ways and they let their battle instincts kick in and hit the ground on their stomachs, hands covering heads as a blast of dark energy hit his Uncle Mikey's dragon form, sending the large dragon into the ground. That in return resulted in boulders and trees flying everywhere. Before the last of the debris fell, a roar of defiance came from the dragon and he rolled back to his feet and charged the female bot that got a hit in on him.

"Move! Now!" Ratchet snapped.

"Daddy!" Ari cried, concern covering her delicate face as she watched with extreme worry.

"Go Ari!" Adam grabbed her hand and began to drag her along. "There's nothing we can do to help him!"

"So...the little female is your spawn is it?" The female grinned nastily. "Let me show you the reason I am called Death foolish dragon."

Another blast came, this time straight for Ari and Adam. But it never hit. Using a strong gust of wind the dragon of air pushed them out of the way and the blast hit the now empty ground where the teen and her partner had been only moments before. Then he swung that neck around and loosed his orange dragon fire to connect with the next blast as he shifted his body around to place himself between this opponent and his daughter. The two streams connected and held firm as both struggled to gain the upper hand on the other.

Ty grabbed Ari's other hand and joined his pull with Adam's to get her back onto her feet. "Come on cousin! We need to move! Our presence is only distracting them!"

They got her moving just as the streams themselves couldn't hold their own power and exploded, sending Death flying off of her mount and Uncle Mikey rolling, narrowly missing the now running group as he rolled across their path behind them.

"Jesus fucking christ!" Aunt Cris screamed. "It's like some fucked up version of Clash of the Titans out here!"

"Go Mom!" Thane pushed her with his good arm to keep her moving even faster, only to pull her back again as one of the heralds toppled, mount and all, into their path. Uncle Donnie furiously followed him, landing on him with his claws digging into the armour.

"There's nowhere _to_ go!"

"Over here!" Dante called, his hand firmly held Emily's as she stared wide eyed around her. Blaster was with him, hurriedly ushering the other humans to follow Ratchet. The Med Bot was trying to guide them a path to safety around the struggling behemoths.

The mount's legs thrashed violently as it struggled to fight off the dragon holding it and it's rider down, kicking up all kinds of debris as it's clawed feet struggled to find a hold. Thane and Aunt Cris weren't the only ones struggling to find some kind of cover from that deadly rain. It was Ari and Ty now desperately trying to guide the human in their trio to safety as they pushed him back and forth between them as they themselves tried to get out of harm's way.

But there was a large boulder not even their quick reflexes were able to get past as it came rolling towards them. It suddenly disappeared as Uncle Raph's mighty forepaw calmly slapped the fuck out of it and sent it to his own opponent. Then that large redbanded head looked at them and gave a low impatient growl.

"We're trying Uncle!" Ty snapped back at him. "We don't want to be in the middle of this shit any more than you want us in it!"

The fire dragon didn't have time to worry about that anymore, his body being tackled by the fourth horseman. Ty suddenly found his feet not wanting to hold him up through the tremors that collision caused.

"Go, go, go, go, go, go!" Ari was yelling as she led the retreat now.

"We're going, we're going!" Adam answered as they finally made it to Dante.

Ty was right behind them as Dante turned and led them further into the woods and farther away from the battling bodies. Still the ground shook as they retreated, making a quick flight impossible as they all continuously stumbled long.

"Ty! What do we do?!" Cindy's eyes full of fright as she turned to him.

He wanted nothing more than to hold her and calm her, but he couldn't. "We keep moving. It's all we can do. The farther we get from them, the more they can focus on what needs to be done." Ty turned with Cindy to close the gap and follow the others before he stopped in shock and quickly pushed her behind him.

Jeff smiled as he tilted his head. "Did you miss me?" He began to close in. "I missed you. Missed beating the life out of you anyway. Now I'm going to finish the job...and Daddy is too busy to save your ass this time."


	42. Chapter 42

War was very appropriately named. He thrived on battle, enjoyed it. It gave him a pleasing rush to slaughter his way trough champion after champion before the world they fought for collapsed into sheer chaos. Countless victories he had under his belt, and his patience had been lost along the way due to the endless winning streak. If he couldn't quickly finish off his opponent and move to the next one, anger consumed him.

But now he fought against one who was also very well trained to fight, but fought to keep peace. Where War had lost his patience many millennia ago, Leo held it at the very core of his being. Having learned a long time ago that it was that patience that kept him calm and undeterred. It was that patience that let him clearly see openings given to him. Like now.

Leo's jaws snapped shut around the handle of that battleaxe as it came down towards him, stopping it cold in it's descent. For a moment they struggled with it, Leo trying to rip it out of War's hand and War refusing to let it go, before the turtle finally had enough of that and changed tactics. He shifted his body around and used his weight to his advantage as he gave a mighty tug. Suddenly caught off balance, the large robot followed that pull and found himself slamming hard into the ground. Leo placed a paw onto the downed herald then wrenched his head up sharpy, finally taking the axe with him. Leo looked at the bot long and hard, then deliberately bit the weapon in two and let the pieces fall.

In a fit of rage War was able to slap the paw off of him and came back to his feet. "You will pay for that! Do you have any idea how many champions I have slain with that weapon!"

The look Leo gave him in return hinted very strongly that this champion really didn't care.

But just because he now had no weapon didn't mean he wasn't dangerous. Leo found that out when the strange mount came to it's master's aid, slamming hard into the dragon to push Leo away from War. Fire followed from it, keeping the dragon away as War remounted. Leo took the quickest way he could to avoid that blast, he took to the air and the hot stream passed under him.

"Fool! Not even there are you safe!" Came the taunt as the hybrid creature lifted up after him.

But it wasn't safety Leo was going for. On the ground dragons were powerful, but still slightly clumsy because of their size. Dragons weren't made to fight on the ground, they were made to fight in the air. Leo's wings flared once he was high up and he hovered and spun his body around to face the charge coming from below. This time when fire came his way, he met it with his own blue flame. Blue quickly collided with red and then rapidly pushed the other fire back towards the beast that spawned it, forcing the duo to break off it's charge.

War narrowed his eyes at his adversary. "You are indeed powerful. But I have done this many of times, you will fall."

Leo did just that, he fell. Those large wings came in close to his body as he dove forward and he let gravity take over as he plunged down. His front claws and teeth found holds on both mount and rider as he forced them down with him, slamming them into the ground with tremendous force. Once again the earth shook as their combined mass hit hard enough to leave a crater.

Mikey still faced off with Death. The herald known for ending lives, and manipulating them after their demise, dealing with the brother who lived his to the fullest. She out of all of them understood how much destroying the families would crush these disgustingly noble souls and did try numerous times to get to those small, soft and weak individuals...only to be foiled by this strange creature time and time again.

And he had the nerve to taunt her!

Even now as his family fled into the relative safety of the forest behind him he blocked her way towards them. That long dragon tongue came out with a strange sound accompanying it as that long digit flopped up and down.

"Did he just raspberry her?" Came a stunned voice from the woods. "He just fucking raspberried her...idiot..."

"Aw come on Aunt Cris. You didn't expect otherwise did you? Daddy will still be Daddy, even if he is a dragon."

"But...fucking _raspberries?!_ "

The only answer to that was the girl's childish giggles.

They all dared to mock her! Her normally calm patience was severely being tried by this champion. Then he did this 'raspberry' thing again, this time crossing his eyes at her.

"I will make all of you suffer endless deaths for this!" Death finally snapped.

Mikey's head twitched back and forth as he mocked her threatening words with his dragon mouth, then rolled his eyes, very unimpressed. Over all he really didn't feel very intimidated by her. She was big, had magical powers and a creepy looking horse thing, but she was also very overconfident...and that was asking for Mikey to take up the challenge to knock her off of her pedestal. He also noticed she took herself very seriously, and that gave him the means to do it. While his brothers fought with teeth, flames and claws, Mikey fought with what he did best. His sense of humor.

"You insufferable thing!" Death actually stomped her foot on the ground as her hands gathered more of that dark energy.

He just stomped his four paws in an overdone mocking version of her temper tantrum, then easily hopped out of the way of the next energy attack. Much to her screaming frustration.

"Will you stand still!"

In came another blast, and that one he also dodged. He looked over his shoulder as it took out the unoffending treeline, then looked back at her...and did another raspberry.

Death's next frustrated scream shook the birds from the trees two miles in every direction.

Her mount came to her then, looking at Mikey with hatred before it let out a roar as she mounted again. Mikey watched calmly as it did, sniffed with disdain, and roared right back. Much louder and with much more force, knocking them both back over with the power of his vocals alone. Then he turned and sat on them.

Donnie watched amused as his brother's backend bobbed up and down from the struggling pair trying to get up again, Mikey's head turned and watched them before a large dragon grin formed, then there was the loud, unmistakable rumble of a dragon fart. Then he formed an air bubble around it and held it there.

"Oh good god!" Cris bellowed out. "That is just disgusting!"

Donnie agreed, even did a dragon facepalm before his attention was turned back towards the last of the four heralds. Pestilence this one was called. And it seemed his name was also well earned. The mere presence of him was already being seen. Trees, grass, bushes, all began to look sickly and diseased if touched by him. Pestilence was turning everything around him into a sickly plant graveyard. Even a poor squirrel that had the misfortune to use him as a bridge to a safer haven rapidly lost it's fur and broke out in puss filled sores before it just died from whatever ailment had struck it.

Pestilence was everything Donnie stood against. This turtle had spent a lifetime trying to cure various ailments unleashed on his brothers, mate, and even countless civilians who never even knew he existed. Anything that all the crazy scientists they had faced over the years came up with, he had to find a way to stop it before it got out of hand. This alien in front of him mocked all of those efforts. Donnie didn't take too kindly to that.

From what he had observed from the squirrel, he too should have grown sickly and passed from the land of the living. But he didn't. Time and time again he rammed into, bit, hit and tail swiped this thing in front of him and he still remained the same. Not even a scale withered away. Pestilence tried to destroy life around him, the earth itself resisted those attempts. Always finding a way to cleanse itself from even the greatest contaminations. Pestilence's power had no hold over him.

"Why do you not wilt away?" The obviously confused herald asked as Donnie came in yet again. "How do you resist?"

Donnie answered by slamming his paw into the ground, sending a boulder up out of the earth and used his tail to slam it into the evil thing in front of him. He calmly watched as Pestilence and mount crashed through the forest, then followed. The trees and plants that were damaged by the blight effect returning back to normal as the dragon of earth passed, leaving the forest just as clear as it was moments before.

Famine. The herald representing starvation. This was something more than on a food level. He relished sucking everything sustainable he could out of any planet along with Pestilence, leaving everything barren, then watched in amusement as it's population slowly and painfully succumbed from the lack of nutrients. Some even eating their own kind just to stay alive for a few more pitiful days.

Fire, normally a destructive force, came into use here. It also had the potential to fill any area it strikes with nutrients needed to grow new life from the ashes. It also got rid of the things that weren't needed in any given area for it to flourish. Thick layers of dead vegetation that took too long to succumb to the decomposition process, weeding out underbrush that hindered the efforts of new growth to sprout up. Even cleared out areas of diseased forests. It also was very helpful in knocking around power hungry, world killing slimeballs like this one.

Raph had by now also taken to the air, barrel rolling out of the way of the stream of fire aimed at him. It followed him as he easily guided his bulk across the sky. Then it bended, flowing towards the turtle dragon as he circled around. Raph then took that hot mass, turned it into a ball and threw it back. Following it as it sped back towards the mounted Famine. Even as the mount struggled to stay aloft after receiving that hot missile, Raph came in low over Famine's head. Out came a forelimb, guided by years of smacking his little brother, and connected solidly with the head it was aiming for. Famine was launched from his saddle and tumbled towards the ground as Raph flared his wings and pulled up and out of the way of the mount's sharp teeth and claws.

The large red banded reptile then banked sharply, fully intending to finish this herald off before he even hit the ground. That plan hit a large snag when the mount came to protect it's rider, crashing into Raph and they both hit the ground rolling. Raph managed to kick the stupid thing off, and right into Famine who was trying to use that scuffle to his advantage.

Raph gave out a slightly annoyed snort as he rolled back to his feet and stared them down.

"Will nothing stop them?" Famine sputtered by this point.

"I do not know! They fight like none before them have!" War sputtered.

"They have been well prepared for us." Famine grumbled as the dragons closed in on them again. "It seems the god who blessed them knew what they were doing."

"The balance is strong in all of them." Pestilence agreed.

Death wiped the disgusting smell from her face, she tried too anyway. "Patience. The stalker still works on his task. All is not yet lost for our cause."

War looked towards the skies then, an evil grin forming at the sight of the fireballs rapidly heading towards them. "And the Chaos Lord deemed it necessary to send us aid. Let us see how well you fight now as you are out numbered!" He roared at the dragons.

They looked up at the fire storm, then at each other, then at the heralds. Then they all shrugged their massive dragon shoulders. Okay, if that's how they wanted to play. Raph was the first one off of the ground, making a beeline for the closet ball of fire. Unflinching he grabbed the thing as it sped through the air, his claws digging in deep as he flung himself on top of it, then tore the pod open from the outside. Then tore open the purple eyed robot inside before hoping off of his ride, slamming his tail into it hard enough to send the broken thing heading towards the heralds. They scrambled to get out of the way of the impromptu missile, eyes wide as the dragons easily took even these numbers on.

"He should have sent more reinforcements..." Pestilence winced a particularly hard hit.

Death silently agreed, then wondered if she should take this time to go help her pet with his task. When she tried to go for the forest however, she found her way suddenly blocked by the ruins of another debris ball that had used to be a transport pod. The roar aimed at her from the blue banded dragon clearly told her that he wasn't going to let her near them however. The stalker was on his own as she now faced the dragon's fury.


	43. Chapter 43

Seatbelts. When Ironhide first came to this planet he had thought the silly things ridiculous. Then not so much as he saw how well they protected these little squishy creatures that was the dominating species. Now he was wishing Omega Supreme had some as he was thrown against the wall and had the pleasure of the terror twins slamming into him.

Omega was trying to fly through the reinforcements being sent to the planet now far below them. Reinforcements that would have come in greater numbers if Omega himself didn't take out quite a few of them. And more were even being shot down if the last communication they had received from the various ground bases was any good indicator. Unicron was now very well close enough to be spotted easily, and the appropriate action was being taken on all parts. Even those idiotic turtles were holding their own in their task.

Didn't mean that it was all smooth sailing up here though.

Once again Omega turned into a sharp roll to evade the incoming fire and at least Hide took some satisfaction that he slammed into the twins this time.

"Watch the paint!"

"If you don't shut up I'll personally strip it all off!" A very annoyed Ironhide barked back at the bristling Sunstreaker.

Even in this situation Sideswipe thought that was hilariously funny, breaking out into laughter. Laughter that only grew louder as his twin beat the scrap out of him while still being pinned under the weapons specialist.

"If this keeps up we'll never even get there! Will you two quit!" Ironide was quickly losing what little patience he had.

"Me Grimlock not like ride! Me Grimlock want off!"

Well, that made two of them. And did he just agree with the Dinobot? Primus...

"Ahm workin' on it!" Jazz snapped back, his own usually calm demeanor now obviously strained as he and Mirage struggled to come up with something that would cover their approach. "Jus' need more time!"

"Which is something we are rapidly running out of!"

"You wanna do this?!"

Ironhide was about to show him what he wanted to do, which involved inserting numerous grenades in various ports, when suddenly the attacks stopped on their own. There was a stunned silence as Omega Supreme balanced his flight path back out again.

Bumblebee looked out one of the windows and turned back to his comrades, his optics opened wide as he chattered excitedly and motioned for them all to come and look.

Ironhide pushed the twins out of his way, sending them both tumbling across the floor, and did what the younger bot requested. He looked out. And he wasn't quite sure what he was seeing. They were surrounded in a soft white glow and the numerous minions out there couldn't seem to target them as they easily flew onward.

"You have to be fragging kidding me..." He murmured. "Jazz!"

"Ah didna do it Hide." Came the just as stunned response.

"Neither one of us did." Mirage added.

"Then who did?"

None of them seemed to have the answer to that as they all looked baffled around.

 _"Hurry Disciple of Primus.'_ Echoed quietly then in the cabin. _'Your approach has been shielded, but I do not know how long it will hold against him. And he grows dangerously close."_

"Understood." Prime nodded his agreement. "Omega Supreme, take us all the way in."

"Omega Supreme acknowledges. Will initiate ramming procedures."

"Ramming procedures..." Ironhide really didn't like the sound of that. "Now you wait a fraggin-" He was thrown around the cabin again as their ride gained a sudden burst of speed. "Who said anything about ramming!"

"Apparently he did!" Mirage was trying to hold onto Jazz, who was trying to hold onto the console he had been working on. Then they both weren't holding onto anything as they crashed into Hide. That bumpy ride continued until it came to a jolting stop, sending them all flying the other direction.

"Frag it all! If I wanted to fly I'd have Ratchet reformat me into a seeker!" Hide was furious by the time everything settled down.

"Ah think we made it..." Jazz looked up, his visor lopsided before he slammed a servo against the side of his head to straighten it back out again.

"Surprisingly." Hide grumbled back.

Any other banter was quickly cut off as the hatch opened and Prime stepped out of Omega, and found himself inside of Unicron himself. The others quickly gathered themselves and followed their leader, looking around carefully in the unfamiliar surroundings.

"This way." Prime started to lead them, but was interrupted.

"Me Grimlock tired of this! Me Grimlock find Unicron's spark and destroy it!" He transformed, roared and started stomping off...in the wrong direction.

Hide rolled his optics and blasted the big stupid thing in the aft. "Wrong way you glitch!"

Grimlock stopped and looked at him with confusion and anger until he noticed that Prime was heading in another direction. Then he turned, roared again, and stomped off behind Prime.

"Primus help us." Hide shook his head and followed. If they survived this it would be a miracle.

.

.

Ty crashed hard into a tree, but still managed to hold onto Cindy. He couldn't let them get separated, it was bad enough that they already lost sight of the others. He clenched his eyes shut a moment to fight off the pain, but the slight groan that came from him clued Cindy into the fact that he was taking another beating.

"Ty..."

"I'm fine." He brushed her concern off as his eyes opened.

"Are you now?" Jeff taunted as he came closer. "It seems that I didn't hit you hard enough then."

Ty glared at him, breathing heavy from the numerous hits he had already received. Somehow he managed to get back to his feet, once again shielding Cindy from the monster in front of them.

"Still you have some fight in you." Jeff's head tilted in amusement. "Now I bet you wish you had chosen me instead Cindy, seeing how weak he really is against true power."

Her glare was just as hard as Ty's.

"No? I'm sure you will see soon enough when you join me in the pits of hell. I'm going to have an eternity to beat that knowledge into you."

"Fuck you!" Ty snarled, his fist speeding towards the face that grinned at them. This hit actually connected, but did nothing more than turn Jeff's head slightly.

"Better, but still not good enough." Jeff punched back and Ty hit the ground and rolled quite a distance away, this time his grip on Cindy lost. He laid there, groaning in pain as he struggled to focus.

"Let me go!" Cindy screamed, those words allowing Ty to gain the focal point he needed to see through the pain.

He fought his way to his feet to see her arm in Jeff's hand. That caused a growl to come out of the young turtle's throat. Anger and fear filled him, and he somehow closed the distance between them. His katana came out and sliced across the fingers holding her and she stumbled to the ground, crawling backwards out of the way. Ty ran to her as soon as she was free, knowing to try and fight this thing was no good. Even now Jeff laughed at them as those fingers crackled with the dark energy that now flowed in him and they quickly reattached themselves to the wraith before he calmly followed.

"There is nowhere you can hide from me Titian! Nowhere! I'll follow you to the ends of this earth!"

Ty was starting to wonder if there was anything that could stop this thing. Lord knows he couldn't.

 _'Come to me.'_

He paused a moment, eyes wide. Ty didn't recognize the voice he clearly heard in his head. Then shook that head, wondering now if he was going crazy. He had to be going crazy. Hell...who wouldn't be going crazy with all this crap going on?

 _'Come child.'_

This time it was accompanied with a soft inner pull, and a feeling of reassurance. Ty stood still a moment, then made the split second decision to follow that soft call. He strengthened his grip on Cindy's arm and led her off in a completely different direction.

Cindy was confused as he was. "Ty? Where are we going? The others went north."

Ty just shook his head, not sure how to answer her. He just followed the pull that grew stronger as he went. He struggled his way through the thick forest, trying to find the strength to keep going, but he was rapidly growing weary. He still hadn't fully healed from the last beating and these new wounds that covered him were beginning to wear him down.

 _'Not much farther now.'_ Came that calm voice again.

It was a clearing that he was led too. An unremarkable, but very large open space. Nothing different than what was seen in countless other forested areas, except what was in this one. Ty and Cindy both stopped their eyes wide at what they found. Cindy even began to shake as she held onto her lover.

 _'Come closer. There is nothing to fear, just as there is nothing to fear from your father.'_

Ty found his feet moving before it even finished speaking, pulling Cindy with him. Towards what they had found. At the far side of the clearing, resting quietly and calmly on it's stomach, was a white dragon larger even than the dragons who still fought not far away. It's body seemed to glow in the darkness of night around them, golden eyes watched them with a gentle gaze as they made their way closer, it's just as golden wings folded over it's body. It even lowered it's head as they approached, gently lifting them up and placing them in the protective nook of it's crossed forelimbs. Then that head raised again, it's eyes narrowing as the dragon intently watched the area they had just came from.

The young turtle felt safe enough, still not fully understanding why, to let himself collapse against the dragon. His hand pressing his side as he forced his breathing to stay calm.

"Oh Ty..." Cindy looked up at the dragon. "It's so beautiful..." Her wondrous mood quickly broken as she heard a now very familiar and hated voice.

"Where are you going turtle boy? Don't want to play anymore? Too bad...because I do." Came the taunts now. "Then I'll rip your pathetic sister apart, then your cousins. Then your turtle whore moms!"

"You fucking bastard..." Ty growled as he tried to get back up, and was gently pushed back down by an insistent snout.

"Here turtle, turtle! Here boy! I just want to rip your head off and show it to your mother! It'd make a nice present...right before I rip her throat out!" That was followed with laughter right before Jeff came out into the open. Laughter that blinded him to what was in the clearing as he walked farther in.

When Jeff did finally see his target, cradled protectively by the large creature, it was too late for him. His eyes grew wide when that large head swung in his direction. He even had time to sprout his demon wings in an attempt to flee. But that was it.

Ty and Cindy watched with awe as that dragon mouth came open and a pure white beam of light erupted from it. The aim was true as it slammed into the creature from hell, and pain registered on that undead face when it hit. Jeff's scream rang out into the night as his body literally burned under the onslaught. Cracks started to appear on his pale skin and the light shone through as it burned him from both the inside and out. Even brighter the light flared as the onslaught continued and the glow from within brightened until, finally, the dragon stopped. What was left of Jeff fell to the ground, now a small pile of ash.

The couple shook now at what they had just witnessed, their eyes going from what was left of their tormentor to the dragon head that just calmly looked back at them. _'No more will he haunt you.'_

Ty could only give it a nod of appreciation. His mind and mouth couldn't seem to form the words for a proper thank you.

He was shook out of his stupor when more voices rang out through the woods. "Ty! Cindy!" Thane called out for them. Moments before his sister and mother broke through the underbrush from another direction, followed by the others. And all of them stopped and stared. Aunt Cait's hand even went to her mouth in awe.

The only two who didn't stare were Tony and Emily who both came rushing towards the now very battered turtle. Ty was pulled from the dragon and carefully laid down as Ratchet joined them and all three of them began to fuss over him. But he didn't notice it, those large gentle eyes held his. _'Rest now Titian. I will watch over you and your family. Just as I have always watched over them.'_

Those were the last words he heard before he succumbed to that quiet command and let his weariness overtake him. Secure in the knowledge that this dragon would do just that.


	44. Chapter 44

Death instantly knew their slight advantage was gone, and fear now took hold over her. For the first time, she was actually afraid. And it wasn't helping her fears any that she was still facing the snapping jaws of this blue banded dragon. He seemed to take a personal offense to her earlier attempt to locate the organics. Or was it because of what the stalker had already managed to do that so flamed this dragon's ire... Death had a strong feeling that it was maybe both scenarios. A feeling that was reinforced by the sheer ferocity in which he attacked her.

She found herself diving and rolling as those jaws snapped at her, then those teeth kept coming dangerously close as they followed her path. And just like that the large dragon effortlessly not only widened the distance between her and the edge of the forest where the small beings disappeared in, but now he was firmly placed in between her and that same spot. Again Death believed that killing off those disgusting creature he loved would be the key...but she had no chance to attempt it. That great head lowered a little with a warning growl as he advanced another step. She forced herself to quell the rising panic and her usual calm began to take it's hold on her as her eyes lifted.

Again fireballs filled the skies as even more of The Dark Lord's minions came down. Since the previous batch hadn't quite been eliminated, this presented a problem for the dragons as they were now forced to spread their attacks out over multiple foes. Still, they fought bravely on. Refusing to let the sheer numbers wilt their iron will.

But Death's confidence grew. They would fail, and they would fall. Her regained clear thinking bringing something to mind. Something that had slipped out of the forefronts of her thoughts because she had done it only once, and her fear and confusion further hid it from her. Death came in many forms, and not all physical. Her head turned towards where she had last felt her creation and her arm sent out a different kind of energy, this one clear and quiet as it made it's way through the woods.

Not far away, now ignored by everyone as they worriedly watched the medics tend to the young turtle, the pile of ash twirled into the air as a soft whirlwind hit it. A soft ghostly chuckle could have been heard if anyone had chosen to listen around that ash before it suddenly dropped back to the ground. A chuckle that made it's way to the unconscious Titian.

.

.

Raph was seriously getting fed up. Leo could tell that. And he didn't even need the frustrated tail slam on the ground to notice it either. He sensed it, just as he sensed other emotions coming from his other brothers. Leo himself took in the situation much more calmly than his hotheaded brother, already thinking on how to deal with this, and felt the approval at what came to mind.

It was odd to all of them. They couldn't talk or use any kind of hand signals in these forms, but they still had a bond of communication. He couldn't read their minds like he could with his wife, but they each acutely felt the others emotions. Add that to the years of experience working with each other and their strong brotherly bond, and they could read each other like an open book even in these forms. It was that peculiar combination that let the others instantly understand what leo had in mind, and as soon as it clicked they acted out on it.

All four exploded into motion before the last of the newer pods hit the ground, leaping into the air as one unit. Raph led the charge with dragonfire as they soared above the now grounded pods, taking out the first few new arrivals with a steady stream of red fire. Donnie came rolling under that blast, ripping huge chunks of earth up out of the ground and connecting with the next group as Raph veered skyward. Mikey sleekly barrel rolled around his purple banded brother, keeping the onslaught going with a powerful gust of air that sent the next wave airborne and hitting the ground, and other drones, hard. Leo closed off the round as both Donnie an Mikey banked out of his way, one on each side. His blue dragon eyes flared as the ground suddenly exploded upward, now a muddy marshy mess because of the water that was forcefully brought to the surface, trapping those drones targeted in the marshy pit. Raph came in again, his claws ripping into the drones Leo had trapped, and his momentum ripping them in half.

Over and over the turtles weaved in and around each other. Their smooth flowing attacks making it hard to hit a single target and trying to target the group just made them scatter a moment before they reformed their strange dance formation. The heralds new found confidence was severely tested as they watched the harmonious movements of these champions. Maneuvers that flowed with the balance these brothers carried. War was beginning to understand why the power had been split among them instead of one being chosen. As a group they brought each element into a perfect balance better than an individual he had so far met ever could. Only a god or goddess of balance could wield the power with such skill, but here were four mortals wreaking havoc on the agents of chaos.

War looked up at the now very large globe of his master that was in the sky. He was running out of time, and he wasn't sure anymore that these dragons would fall before the Disciple of Prime struck. "How fars the stalker in his task?"

Death's hesitation to answer spurred War's rage as he glared her down. "He still hasn't defeated them?!" He spun in disgust away from her telling expression and looked at the large group of drones that he had gathered around him. It was time to be more forceful about this matter. "Go out into the forest and destroy anyone you find that seek shelter!"

With the dragons distracted with the large task in front of them, this group was able to sneak away and towards those so very vulnerable fleshlings.

.

.

Ty slipped out of the comforting blackness he was in, pulled from it by something. His two toned eyes opened to find a plain, empty landscape around him. Everything he saw, which wasn't much, was colored in muted shades of grey. It was a depressing place, sad even. And being here made him feel very uneasy.

A feeling that shot up even more as he heard the ghostly chuckle. A sound he couldn't find the source of as his eyes carefully searched around him. It seemed to come from everywhere at once. He was still trying to make sense of where he was and what was here when a very powerful unseen blow connected with his side, knocking him onto the ash colored ground.

He quickly rolled back to his feet his eyes still not seeing anything around him. But that damn laugh was the only thing he got out of his effort. A laugh he knew very well by now.

"Jeff..." Ty snarled.

"Oh yay for the turtle boy... He figured it out."

Another blow hit him this time on his carapace, making the grey masked turtle stumble forward. But he refused to fall and spun around instead. And found nothing there.

"Didn't think you'd be rid of me that easily did you?"

A third time he was hit, this time in the plastron. Ty let himself fall backwards with the impact and rolled with the momentum, stopping himself in a low crouch. Anger and confusion were starting to take hold of him. Anger that once again his tormentor had found a way to harass him and confusion because he didn't even know where he was.

"Aw...what's the matter? Turtle boy don't like the new playing field? I like it...a lot... For obvious reasons. No meddling dragons here to save you this time."

Once again Jeff connected and Ty found himself struggling to stay on his feet. But it was the fact that he was able to stay on his feet this time that calmed his rising unease and panic. There was something...different...about Jeff's strikes. The hits didn't hit him as hard as they had all those times before. And shouldn't he be in a rolled up ball of pain from all the abuse he had already taken? But he wasn't... Why was that? Why did Jeff seem so much weaker here? And how could he use this to his advantage?

He kept that unsuccessful surveillance up as he pondered this mystery placed in front of him.

 _'What's wrong with him? Why is he jerking like that? Did you lay him on a pile of fire ants?'_ Came a frantic female's voice. A voice that sounded like it was right next to him, but at the same time muffled and very far away.

His eyes widened, he knew that voice. "Ari?"

 _'No, I didn't lay him in a pile of fire ants.'_ Tony's sarcastic voice came next. _'He shouldn't even be moving...'_

"You wish your pathetic cousin was here to help you. So do I actually. Then I wouldn't have to hop over there to tear her apart from the inside out."

Ty was distracted by voices that Jeff seemingly couldn't hear. It didn't make sense to him. Nothing here made sense to him. He quickly brought his attention back where it needed to be as this time he felt the hit coming and managed to get an arm up to block it, and hold it back. How in the...

 _'Ty!'_ Mother that time. _'What's wrong? Come on sweetie, talk to me.'_

 _'Isn't he too old to be called sweetie?'_ Thane asked next.

 _'You just hush.'_ Aunt Cris' firm voice.

"Not bad, you actually managed to stop that one. Try this one!" That hit came in harder and did send him rolling again as his attention was on the conversation only he could hear.

 _'There he goes again... Why won't he lay still! It's making him hard to work on when he's bouncing around like that. Emily see if you can hold him down.'_

 _'Me? Hold him? He outweighs me like three times over!'_

 _'More like four.'_ Thane calmly said. _'I'll do it.'_

Ty felt slight pressure on his shoulders, but nothing strong enough to inhibit his movements as he once again got back to his feet. Now more confused than ever, but strangely unafraid as he tried to face his still unseen opponent.

"Come on, oh so mighty ninja. Hit me if you can!" The cackling laughter that followed after was a little unsettling. Ty was beginning to see that Jeff was rapidly loosing whatever sanity he had. Which might explain why he took such pleasure on trying to torture his prey.

Even this revelation really didn't unsettle the turtle. This was a puzzle and he had to figure it out. When an immense pressure slammed against his throat and grew tighter as it lifted him in the air, he knew he better do it soon.

 **Author's note: Ok folks, sorry about the long update lag. Been dealing with a lot the last few weeks with my son being hospitalized for a few days along with other crap that piled up around the same time and it kinda drained my writing spirit there for a bit. But, as always, my head can't keep the ideas contained and I'm slowly getting back into the flow of writing and video making. My fantasy land is still alive and well.**


	45. Chapter 45

Lavi watched helplessly from the sideline as they fought to keep her brother alive. She was just as confused as the others. One minute her twin had been laying still and resting peacefully, the next he started twitching like he was being given shocks or something.

She somehow sensed it was more than his physical injuries. Something else was happening. But she was just as clueless as the others as to what it was. The only one who didn't seem to worried as it calmly watched Ty was the dragon, who still laid resting on it's stomach.

 _'Think clearly little one. You know what ails him.'_

Lavi blinked a little at the unfamiliar voice in her head, wondering who it was, then finding it out when the dragon turned it's gaze to her. _'You out of all of them understand the best what it is he faces. Because only you fully know your twin. Not even your father has reached you both on the level you can reach each other. And only you can reach him. The barrier in place now is too strong for anyone to penetrate but his other half, which you are.'_

Suddenly she understood and nodded at the dragon before sitting at her brother's head, then placing that head in her lap. Closing her eyes and drowning everything else out, she began to reach out to Ty.

.

.

 _'His breathing is slowing! Damn it! That shouldn't be happening!'_

Ty clearly felt the panic coming from those he loved, but again he was calm. Mainly because he clearly felt Lavi reaching out to him. Her presence seemingly to try and manifest itself right next to him instead of inside his head. It was with that realization that he finally understood what was happening. He wasn't anywhere. He was still in the presence of the others, but only physically. Jeff had somehow found his way into Ty's head and was trying to take him over, or wipe him out internally and managed to manipulate what Ty was seeing, and not seeing.

Those unusual eyes he didn't know he had closed flared open, and glowed with his own power he held here. There was a stunned silence as the pressure on his throat released a little with Jeff's shock. Ty added to that shock and kicked out with his foot, slamming it into the unseen body in front of him. Jeff's grip released suddenly and Ty landed easily on his feet.

 _'There...he's breathing again.'_ The relief in Tony's voice could clearly be heard.

 _'But what caused it in the first place?'_ A bewildered Emily asked.

 _'I don't know.'_

Ty knew. And his eyes once again searched for the intruder in his mind. "I understand now Jeff. Pretty brave coming into my domain."

"And yet, you still can't beat me turtle boy." Came the amused reply. "Even here I'm stronger than you." He reinforced that statement with what felt like a kick to Ty's midsection.

This time Ty didn't stumble, but managed to get his hands around that unseen leg, turned and threw the invisible body as hard as he could away. "Maybe. But I'm not exactly helpless anymore."

"Which really doesn't matter, because you still can't overpower me here either."

Ty did have to admit, he was right. Everything here was set in Jeff's favor and Ty couldn't for the life of him figure out how to get him out. He tried to mentally push him out, and was met with mocking laughter at the attempt. "Not going to work turtle boy. I like it here and I'm staying."

So another tactic was tried, if he couldn't force him out maybe he could at least make his target visible. He concentrated hard on the task, and felt jeff as he moved around. His presence like a disturbing ripple that didn't fit in with Ty's consciousness as he came in for another attack. Ty spun towards it and he could now make out a vague misty form as the arm came in for a swing. Ty rapidly blocked it, and the next. Then his own punch reached out and almost connected before it was blocked.

They traded blows, neither one of them gaining the upper hand but each able to hold his own against the other as their arms and legs lashed out again and again. A deadly dance taking place in this desolate landscape Jeff created. Blow after blow was blocked, diverted or dodged as quick as thought itself as the two fighters struggled to win out over the other. Hatred flared from both of them as they fought on.

Ty leaned out of the way of a punch, bringing his own fist in an underhand swing as he straightened out. Jeff's own arm and came up to block it as a knee came up to strike him in the gut. The turtle responded in turn with an elbow to Jeff's face that did connect. Jeff took the hit freely and returned it with a kick that connected with the side of Ty's knee as he fell. Ty's knee came in and knocked it away just as quick. Both of them hit the ground in rolls to get some distance between them before they came back to their feet and collided again.

Words were not wasted on this fight. They were both past that point as this silent fight kept going. Jeff's face had a sneer on it as he fought, where Ty's was angry but calm.

The momentum came to a halt when Jeff caught Ty's arm and ducked under it and around the turtle to where he was standing behind Ty, holding the arm up in a painful angle behind the turtle. Before Ty could respond to that, the other came around Ty's neck and pulled in tightly.

"Game over turtle boy." He mocked the struggling and off balance turtle. "Guess what happens if I break your neck here? You don't wake up and I get a nice new body to play with. I wonder if your family will figure it out before I slice them to ribbons with your pretty swords?"

Jeff's arm tightened, then suddenly released and Ty was dropped to the ground a moment before a pair of slender legs hit the ground in front of him, and Jeff hit the ground on his back quite a distance away. A hand reached down to help him up, and he looked up to see his sister's calm face when he took that hand.

"Lavi?"

"This is new. First time I've seen your mind turned into some kind of funky arena." She looked curiously at her hands. "Never thought I'd actually be able to walk around in here in a body form. Kinda cool though."

"What are you even doing here?"

She smiled slightly at him. "Helping my other half." She calmly turned as Jeff closed in again. "I'm getting real tired of you beating up on my brother. It's time you learned that when you mess with him, you deal with me."

"Oh spare me the speech. I'll take you both on."

Ty was looking curiously at Lavi still when it clicked at what she was getting at, then he looked at Jeff. "That's just it. We aren't two. Never have been."

Ty drew his sister's presence into his own and they firmly held onto each other. And when they did both reached out with a mental wave, changing the landscape to something more familiar and loved by them. What was once an open gloomy field turned into the warm, welcome environment they had trained in since childhood, complete with many fond memories spent in here. They stood in a perfect replication of their dojo.

"Much better." Lavi murmured with approval. "Now watch this fogman."

They hit him with another wave and the last of his transparency slipped away, revealing the last living form of the wraith before the dragon burned him.

"Hmm." Lavi looked at her brother. "Still as ugly. I guess you can't improve on everything."

He gave her a gentle smile, honestly glad she was here.

"Very well done child."

Ty and Lavi spun at the sound of the new voice and stared right into the golden eyes of the white dragon as a smaller version of it sat behind them.

"You are as quick as your Father. I had feared you wouldn't solve this riddle in time."

Ty looked at it in shock, not expecting it to be here.

Those golden eyes were filled with slight amusement at the look. "Why wouldn't I be here? I have already told you I watch over your family. I would have come sooner but I had to wait for you to free yourself from his influence."

"You again!" Jeff roared when he caught sight of the dragon.

Those golden orbs hardened when it caught sight of the spirit. "Indeed. Again and always. And I shall greatly enjoy sending you back to the hell you came from, but first you must be vacated from this vessel. Learn now why their father has been chosen to be one of the champions, and how well he has taught his children. The herald chose wrongly to send you against them in this way."

Lavi grinned at the dragon as he looked over them at the wraith beyond, then looked at her brother. "Well then, shall we?"

"I do believe we shall."

Both siblings turned and as one ran towards Jeff. Lavi led with a leaping kick that Jeff managed to block. Ty came rolling under her, his own foot connecting with Jeff's midsection as the ninja came to his feet. Even as Jeff stumbled backwards from that, Lavi lightly landed on her brother's shoulders and flipped forward. This time when she kicked out she connected with Jeff's head, snapping it back. She landed in a crouch as Ty's leg came swinging over her head and connected with that jaw again. Lavi got back to her feet and twisted around her brother, her fist hitting Jeff in the gut and the other connecting with his chin.

Once more the fight was fierce. This time however it was greatly in favor of the twins. Where Ty could barely manage to hold his own with the undead creature, both of them didn't let the wraith get a hit in. They had been trained not only by their father, but also by their uncles on how to fight as a team. And their bond gave them a unique ability to read each other's moves and fight in a fluid pattern. Not only that, but both twins kept pushing against him with their mental bond, further weakening his presence here. Jeff couldn't hold up to that, though he did try. Step by step they pushed him back, each strike hitting it's mark. Each mental pulse breaking his grip in Ty's mind.

Dark brown braid trailing behind her, Lavi spun in landing a double punch combo. "You don't belong here!"

Ty came in from the other side his own hands striking. "And it is way past time you left."

"I will not!" Jeff snarled, barely able to stand on his feet at the both physical and mental onslaught the twins kept forcing on him.

"Wrong answer." The twins chimed as one. Arms came back, then forward as they hit him with a massive double punch at the same time they blasted their minds against him.

"No!" Jeff screamed in fury as he was ripped through a crack that had formed behind him, against the boundary to Ty's mind.

A scream that continued as he was suddenly thrust out of Ty's body, causing Tony and Emily to dodge wide eyed out of the way of the ghostly apparition that suddenly appeared in front of them. Cindy also scrambled backwards away from Ty, her face pale and eyes full of fear at what she saw.

"I refuse to lose to you! I will have my reward!" That ghostly head swung towards Cindy then. "You are mine!" He began to float towards her.

The dragon had been patiently waiting for him however. Once he was clear of the prone turtle, the dragon began to glow. That glow extended outward in a beam to hold the ghost in a globe.

Ty and lavi opened their eyes in time to see the head move closer to the trapped form. _'This time I will send you personally back to where you belong. And this time this globe will go with you. Forever being your prison so you can not come to the land of the living again.'_

Jeff beat against that globe, his eyes now wide with fright of the implications. "Who are you! What gives you the power to do this!"

 _'I am one who is neither living nor dead. One that has crossed demensions for this family and one who will always do what needs to be done to make sure this family stays whole. You will no longer hold any power over them. Now, begone wraith!'_

Still pounding and with a howling scream, Jeff then was pulled by the globe through a portal that had opened behind him, the other side dark and foreboding. Once he floated through the portal snapped shut, silencing the screams and leaving their eerie echoes in the clearing. The dragon just watched, unflinching.

Thane swallowed hard as he looked up at the calm creature. "I'm glad it's on our side..."

"Yuuup..." Adam agreed with him.

Lavi help Ty sit up, who was seriously wanting to go back to that other place. Everything hurt and he groaned as he sat up.

"You ok?" She gently straightened his mask.

"Besides feeling like someone ran me through the ringer...I'm fine..." He met her eyes. "Thanks for the save."

Lavi just smiled at him before she made room for Cindy who promptly burrowed her way into his arms.

Mother was watching them intently when Lavi got to her feet. "Someone want to explain to me what just happened?"

Before Lavi could find the words, the trees at the edge of the clearing started to fall as numerous large drones began to push their way through.

"Oh come on!" Thane snapped. "Haven't we put up with enough shit for one night!"

"Apparently not." Blaster replied as he and Ratchet turned to face the drones that seemed to just keep coming.

None of them were very sure if the two bots would be enough, even with the dragon. Lavi sighed as she steeled herself for another fight. The night seemed to be never ending with them.


	46. Chapter 46

They fought tirelessly on. All four knowing what was at stake if they faltered. The night sky lit up with their fire, time and time again. Making it seem like there was a colored lighting storm if you looked in from a distance. The roars were the thunder that accompanied it. The ground shook repeatedly as those massive bodies slammed drones into the ground then taking to the air again in their strange dance.

And the elements also lent their own part to this storm, aided by the dragons. The wind howled as it sent these invaders flying through the air, where more often than not boulders would come up to meet them. Strands of fire and water weaved around in graceful patterns before slamming into their foes. And teeth and claws flashed in the strange light caused from this combined effort, tearing yet even more drones to pieces.

Unicron's forces may have the number advantage, but the dragons had more heart and plenty of experience facing large numbers.

Donnie landed, turned his form broad side and brought his tail around slamming it into a drone. That drone became a missile that hit the one behind it as as Mikey came in low over his brother, orange fire leading. The youngest turtle crashed into the middle of the small group. His head snapped forward, picking one up and flinging it back and forth like a dog shredding a newspaper before throwing what was left off to the side. Leo came in a banking dive and landed on top of another one, his feet slamming into it hard enough to where it cracked apart in the crater that had formed under it. He rolled out of the way for Raph, who came skimming just mere feet over the ground, his eyes angry as he used his body as a ram, crashing into drone after drone before he banked up again, leaving torn apart mechanical bodies parts everywhere behind him.

Leo hovered in the short break of the fight, his eyes looking skyward at that menacing globe that was still approaching. He was seriously hoping that the Autobots were having an easier time with their job...though he seriously doubted that. With a heavy sigh he focused on the dwindling pile of drones and let his head dip down to lead his body in yet another dive.

.

.

Hide barely had time to scramble out of the way of the crash that happened where he stood just a moment before. "Watch it you overgrown pile of scrap parts!" He thundered at the culprit.

Grimlock just snorted at him before he turned that massive metal head around and snapped up another antibody and crunched it.

It had been like this almost from the moment they stepped of Omega and entered farther into Unicron's body. Swarms of the strange creatures seemed to come out of nowhere to engulf them in force. Still the stubborn bot pushed on, following Optimus as he led them on even as he fought his way through the swarm.

"At least these little fraggers don't put up much of a fight." Sideswipe cheerfully noted as they moved on. "Sunny is getting good target practice out of it."

"Don't call me that!" Sunstreaker snapped at his brother, aiming the last of his latest volley at those wheeled feet.

"Hey!" Sideswipe somehow managed to get his feet out of the way even as his blades tore through a pair of antibodies. "Watch the friendly fire! You are going to get us yelled at when we get back!"

"Move you glitches!" Hide snapped at them. "You can annoy each other later!"

"Not ta mention annoy Hide." Jazz snickered as he passed the fuming weapons specialist.

"Did I ask for your opinion?"

"Didna have ta." The small silver bot replied over his shoulder.

Not even the battle hardened Ironhide was past the occasional youngling moment, a fact that was proved when he mimicked Jazz before he resumed his attacks on these buggers. "Smartaft..." He then mumbled as he blasted one that tried flying for his face.

Sideswipe was right, these things really didn't put up much of a fight, but their sheer numbers made them a major annoyance.

"This is almost too easy." Mirage said as he caught up with Hide.

Suddenly the flock of antibodies veered off, hovering as if they were waiting for something.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Chromia muttered as she and her sisters watched not far away.

"Aw come on..." Sideswipe scoffed. "What could these little things do? Tickle us to death?"

Bumblebee was chirping frantically as he pointed repeatedly to the group in from of him. They turned to look to see their little tormentors coming together...and connecting, forming a much larger creature.

"You have to be fraggin kidding me..." Hide rubbed his face after he looked up at the creature that now towered over him. They were combiners...go figure... "Move!" he snapped and the bots scrambled into motion again. "You!" Hide snapped at Sideswipe as they quickly ran now. "I'm about to weld yours and Mirage's mouth plates shut!"

"I didn't do anything!"

Hide just glared at him, his blue optics seething before he turned and fired some grenades at the now much larger antibody closing in. That one went down but there were still plenty more to take it's place.

"I wonder if all of those explosions is giving Unicron heartburn..." Sideswipe mused as he skated along.

"Will you just shut up!"

"Keep movin'!" Jazz shouted from up ahead now. "Boss bot ain't slowin' down and he's gonna need some cover!"

The Dinobots at least seemed happy to have bigger targets to munch. Grimlock especially. Probably because he finally got past the appetizers and the main meal was served. He was happily stomping along and crunching the new antibodies as he went. Slug was helping his leader, ramming his tri horned head into these things, knocking them directly in the raging tyrannosaur's path. Bumblebee took a safer route, he climbed up on Strafe and they were taking a higher route. The yellow mech was happily waving at his companions as his ride passed by over their heads. Strafe was busy himself, both heads removing any antibody heads that came in his path while Scorn kept pace with them, tearing the bodies apart as they fell.

Even Hide was grateful for the clear path this gave him and the others. Maybe these big brutes were good for something besides using him for a chew toy afterall.

The down size to this was the smaller antibodies that didn't get damaged we free to form another giant one. Like there weren't enough of them floating around. They made progress distance wise but battle wise they were barely denting the surface of what was coming at them.

"There!" Arcee pointed to the opening of a large chamber ahead of them, the soft glow illuminating their way now. "That has to be it!"

The spark chamber. They were closer than Hide thought they had been.

Optimus didn't slow his advance, his optics set firmly on that target. Until the chamber snapped shut on him before he could enter it. Suddenly the bots found themselves in a precarious situation. Blocked off from their target and a horde of internal defense mechanisms closing in. And if that wasn't enough...the whole thing began to shake.

"Now what..." The obviously irritated Ironhide spat out as he struggled to keep upright and blast the gaggle closing in on them.

"He knows we are here." Optimus calmly answered. "And knows what my intent is."

"You mean he hasn't figured it out by now?" Sideswipe asked incredulously. "Is the biggest threat to the universe really that stupid that he didn't know this is where we would be heading?"

"No." Elita replied in a thoughtful tone, standing close to Prime. "But maybe something else had him occupied. Or someone..."

Hide couldn't ponder that cryptic statement because he found himself in the undignified position of sitting on his aft with the next series of lurches and shakes. And the sound of Sideswipe laughing filled his audio receivers. Hide would have popped him if everything would quit shaking long enough for him to get his aim right. Then it suddenly dawned on him on _why_ the whole place was shaking. "Scrap..." he brought a servo to his helm in frustration. "The fragger is transforming..." In his bot form there was nothing to stop him from opening his chest plates to pick them out.

That same realization kicked in on all the faces around him and Sideswipe spun to the closed chamber behind them. "We gotta get in there! Now!"

With Grimlock already trying, and not succeeding, it seemed that task might be a bit hard to do.

Hide vented in frustration that just kept growing. He hoped at least those obnoxious reptiles were having better luck.

.

.

It was times like this when I really wished my life was normal. You know, the kind of life where the worst thing you deal with is midlife crisis and menopause... No _oo_ oo... Here I was running around like a damn roach trying not to get squished by a damn flyswatter after you flick the damn kitchen light on.

"Shit!" I skidded to a stop so quick I fell on my ass as a foot slammed down in front of me, then I was reverse crab walking like a boss to put some distance between me and that stomping foot. You have no idea how happy I was to look up and and see the ol' Hatchet take a humongous buzzsaw to that thing. Until the pieces started falling towards me. With a yelp I decided I might want to try a mode of transportation quicker than the crustacean crawl, rolled over, scrambled to my feet and jumped as far as I could away, right before a detached arm hit where I had been a moment before.

When I looked up again I met the eyes of a very annoyed dragon as it tried to herd everyone towards it, and everyone decided that trying to run around like ants was a better idea. The only ones left in it's protective presence was Ty, Cindy and the two medics. I actually felt bad for the poor thing as it lifted me up and plopped me next to my son. Then it tried to grab Thane who was charging the nearest bot...with his arm still bandaged. It missed the hard headed young turtle by about a foot as Thane kept going.

I saw those massive jaws clench as it tried again and again to round up these stubborn beings that just wouldn't sit still, then it let out an irritated snort. What came next was a deafening roar loud enough to make me cover my ears, and I wasn't the only one I noticed. Everyone, and bot, had stopped and looked at the dragon. It glared around and pointed a claw at the ground in front of it before slamming a tail on the ground for emphasis. Even Ratchet knew better than to argue with that by now very irritated dragon and moved closer to it.

It nodded in satisfaction when he finally had all of it's charges rounded up. Those golden eyes then settled on the bots closing in before they started to glow.

"What's it doing?" Emily asked, taking a moment to look away from Ty.

Will shook his head in reply. "I'm...not sure..."

A golden globe surrounded the huddled group and our enormous protector. That noble head was held high now as it looked out with disdain at the creatures closing in, those eyes still holding that glow. Those eyes then narrowed right before the globe around us shot outward like a bullet. The even circle slamming into the ranks of big bad bots that pretty much had us pinned, and disintegrated them on contact. Not knock them over or blow them to bits...just straight up poof, gone, little pieces of metal flakes falling gently to the ground disintegrated them... Ho-ly mother fucking shitballs from dragon hell... Did someone have a net to catch my eyeballs? Because they were about to fall out...

I stared long and hard out into the now deathly quiet clearing. Not a word was spoken by anyone. My eyes then wandered up to the dragon who had put up another globe around us as it now calmly laid back down on it's stomach.

It took a couple of tries before I could get my mouth to work again. "Um...I don't know about the rest of you...but my happy ass is staying right here..."

Nods of agreement echoed my statement from everyone there.

 **Author's note: ok, this time I blame the long update on writer's block. I can't stand writer's block. Still not full happy with this chappy, but I'm honestly tired of batting this back and forth in my head -_-**


	47. Chapter 47

The light didn't go unnoticed. As bright as it had been, you had to be blind _not_ to see it. Leo also didn't miss the large silhouettes that were shown in it before they disintegrated. Add that with the fact it came from the direction the others had fled towards, the turtle turned dragon had a fairly good idea of what was going on. That large head turned back towards his opponents, those blue eyes flaring now with it's own inner light. And he wasn't the only one not happy. His brothers walked up to stand next to him as glowing eyes stared the heralds down.

A drone chose that moment to try and interfere...and promptly got smacked with Mikey's tail without him even looking. It flew in a long arc before it crashed into the forest beyond.

Pestilence actually backed up a step from those furious gazes. "War...we should retreat..."

"I will do no such thing!" Came the bellowed answer as he remounted. "I have not failed before now and I refuse to fail here!" Then he kicked his mount into a charge, a black sword appearing in his grip as he closed in.

A coloum of water blasted War in the face, knocking him right back off of his mount again. Then the turtle turned dragon let the stream of water fall and collided with the hybrid mount. Teeth and claws dug into the creature even as it returned the favor. Both large beasts now locked together as each tried to tear the other apart. Leo took those bites and scrapes and growled the pain away. His patience with these intruders finally at an end, Leo's teeth dug into the living metal and bit in deep as he was thrown on his back.

This may seem like a dangerous position to be in, but it did have it's advantages. War couldn't get a clear hit in on the dragon with his ride in the way, and Leo's hind legs were in the perfect position to rip apart that unprotected stomach area, which is exactly what he did. Those powerful legs pushed his claws deep inside the body of the mount, and he began ripping those legs downwards. Opening large gouges in the thing. He tore through wires, cables and energon lines and everything else he came into contact with as he repeated his movements over and over again with speed you wouldn't expect from such a large body. By the time Raph crashed into the thing, knocking off of Leo in the process, there was nothing left intact on that midsection. The mount rolled away, it's stomach sparking and the purple energon that gave it life leaking out.

It was also the same substance that allowed it to try to get back up again, refusing to lay down and just die. It didn't even have the chance to do that before Donnie and Mikey closed in on it and tore it apart. By the time they stepped back again, War was left with nothing but a pile of scrap parts scattered everywhere to ride. Something he couldn't seem to wrap his head around as Leo rolled back to his feet. "No..."

That act opened up the doorway for these dragons, and they now burst through it. A roar from Raph led their charge, and the heralds and remaining mounts found themselves buried under who knows how many tons of dragon anger.

Leo once again faced off with War, his jaws snapping dangerously close to the unholy mech as he struggled to hold them at bay. War was not so quick to give in however, even after the loss of his mount. He managed to bring a fist to the dragon's side knocking the creature off of him. Mikey came at him as Leo rolled away, and kept rolling until he collided with Pestilence and is mount. Even as Mikey latched onto War's arm Leo calmly turned his attention to the leg of the mount, bit his teeth in, and ripped it off. It stumbled on three legs for a moment before War crashed into them. War and Pestilence was knocked away, the mount suffered the same fate as it's companion as Leo tore it apart.

War got back to his feet, his face furious. Then a snarl found it's way to his lips as he charged the distracted Leo, his black sword held high. Raph slammed into the ground in front of him before that sword could come down. And he was not a happy puff the magic dragon. The red banded reptile not only released his dragon breath, but his eyes glowed red and his whole body burst into flames as he let out that rage filled blast. Flames that didn't hinder him in the slightest as he advanced on War.

The herald shrinked back from that extreme heat and he struck out blindly at the dragon approaching him. His sword did hit that body, but when the flames hit his sword, it began to melt under that onslaught. Finally the leader of this group of chaos had to drop it, his own hand now beginning to heat up. Still Raph advanced, his coat of flames growing even hotter, his footsteps leaving fiery imprints on the ground as he closed in. Pestilence managed to scramble out of the way but War was blinded by the intensity of the flames. He was disoriented, confused and those flames began to heat up his plating now. War finally, after everything these dragons had done tonight, finally felt the first inklings of fear creep into him. Urging him to retreat. When he chose to listen, it was too late. The teeth of the fire dragon sunk into his shoulder even as the claws dug deep into each side. The other three heralds flinched violently, even in the middle of their own fights, when War's cries of pain reached them moments before Raph tore War apart straight down the middle.

Mikey's eyes now held none of their usual humor. Pranks were the farthest thing from his mind. His only thought was to end this threat standing in front of him. A low growl came out of his throat as he landed on the back of Famine, who was still mounted. His weight forcing all three of them to the ground. The mount squealed and kicked as it tried to get back to it's feet, but claws latched firmly into it refuse to let it. Famine himself was swinging his morning star at whatever angle he could to get a hit in but none of those strikes had the leverage to achieve the desired effect. The smallest dragon took those hits as he stubbornly held them both down.

Then Mikey growled in pain as Death got a jab into his side with her spear, then set herself to dig it in. Her eyes triumphant, she sneered at Mikey who refused to let his grip go. The warning whinney noise that came from her mount was the only warning she got as she whipped that spear around to the purple banded dragon who was flying low to the ground, straight for her. This one too she manages to draw blood on, but before she could push the blade in farther, Donnie's paw came up and slapped down hard on the shaft, snapping the weapon in two before that clawed appendage ripped her from her saddle and he slammed her into the ground. He didn't stop on that impact though. His lips drew back in a toothy sneer under purple glowing eyes as he opened the ground up under her and dragon fire blasted her into the cavern below. Then he reached over and clamped down on the leg of her mount and drug it over and threw it in on top of her, knocking the climbing herald back down into it. Donnie stepped back a little, then slammed his hole shut on them. Repeatedly. When he finally stopped, both of them were nothing more than faint purple smears on the pit walls. He slammed it shut a final time, entombing those remains in the rock grave he had placed them in.

Donnie's little brother was just as furious. A wind picked up around Mikey and the pinned aliens. It started off as a slow breeze as it circled around them before it grew in size and in strength. Carefully controlled, this rapidly growing tornado didn't move on to devastate the landscape. It stayed in that one spot even as the dragon stepped back. Mikey's head was high, his eyes glowing bright orange as he guided the winds in an even tighter formation. It howled around the dragon now, with him not even stumbling from the effects. His target wasn't so lucky. Pieces of armour was ripped off of Famine and his mount, but it didn't stop there. Fiercer the wind blew, ripping into them even deeper. Then the sheer force of this elemental rage tore them both apart. The pieces now caught up in the funnel as they were swept high into the air, only to fall back to the ground, scattered everywhere, when the wind died down as Mikey's eyes faded.

Leo calmly circled Pestilence, his head low as he growled at the last herald. They had already traded a few blows, with both getting hits in. Pestilence clutched his energon leaking side with one hand as the other firmly held a mace in his grip. Leo was limping slightly on a fore leg, the supporting shoulder having already felt the power of that weapon. Leo ignored the pain as he still circled, the only outward sign of his agitation was the lashing of his tail. Pestilence was the first to stop their evading dance, going straight for the shoulder that Leo was favoring. He was expecting the dragon to dodge out of his way, not for those ice blue eyes to light up brightly. Only then did the herald notice he had stepped right where the dragon had quietly guided him. Over a small, unassuming looking pond. Pestilence soon found out there was much more to it as the water suddenly exploded upward. The sheer amount of water was more than what had seemed to be at first, because this pond was fed by an underground spring. Pestilence couldn't see in this sudden onslaught of murky, now muddy water and when he tried to move away from it he found he couldn't. It wasn't until the water came crashing back down that he understood why. He was trapped up to his armpits in the muddy mess the ground had become under his feet. He looked around in shock as he tried to get out of the slippery mess, panic taking over now as he struggled and only succeeded in firmly entrenching himself even more. It was also that panic that didn't let him see the now flying bluebanded dragon coming straight for his head. When Pestilence remembered about the beast that put him in this situation, it was because Leo's teeth had firmly clamped onto his head before he ripped it off along with the whole top half of the exposed torso.

Leo landed heavily on the other side of the quagmire he had created, and ripped the pieces he held apart before his anger at this unholy creature finally calmed. He was now favoring that shoulder heavily and lifted his paw up off of the ground to relieve some of the pain. His head swung around, looking for his brothers who were all now calmly walking over to him. They were beat up, bleeding in a few places and Raph was also limping on a forelimb with blood running down his leg. But their eyes were now calm as they joined him.

Together they stood as they looked out over the area where they had fought so fiercely. Here they stood where the heralds had fallen. Not even humble, even tempered Leonardo could hold back the dragon urge to let out a thunderous victory roar. A roar that his brothers echoed around him.

Not far away the loud noise was heard by the group waiting in the woods. The white dragon's head raised up and tilted as it listened to the sound, and a small dragon smile formed on it's reptilian lips as it lowered the protective globe around those it shielded.

It's tiny charges all stood up from where they were sitting, their eyes full of hope at hearing the ongoing roars. Even Ty managed to push the medics away and stood on his own two feet as hope filled him.

Cris turned to Vicky, her eyes wide. "You don't think..."

Vicky smiled confidently. "No, I don't think. I know." And with those few words she ran towards the sounds that seemed to call out to them all.

Leo was waiting for her at the edge of the trees, as the other dragons waited for their own mates. His dragon eyes patiently watching for her arrival, hoping Mizuchi had been true to his word that they had been looked after. And when she finally burst through she stopped and stared at the destruction she saw around them before her eyes looked up to his. Relief flooded him to see her. The spirit dragon had indeed kept his word. She was safe, they were all safe...

"You did it..." She smiled widely even as sadness seemed to take a hold of her. "I knew you guys could." She ran forward and flung her arms around his leg laughing and crying at the same time. Leo's massive head came down and gently nudged her in reassurance as the others emerged.

Will and Epps both lost the color in their faces as they took in what was left of the base that had been here just twelve hours before. The now emerging dawn bringing it into even clearer focus.

Epps swallowed hard as he looked around. "How in the hell are we going to explain this..."

"I have no clue..." Will replied in a breathless voice.

Leo and his brothers just took satisfaction that their family was unharmed and gave them their undivided attention. But their heads snapped back up, much to the puzzled looks of those gathered around their large feet. Something was in the air, something was still here. Low growls started coming from those throats as dragon eyes swept around trying to pinpoint it.

Eerie wails of anger reached their ears then. And shortly after four large shapes of darkness rose from the remains of the destroyed bodies scattered across the ravaged area. The only thing that could be clearly seen were the sickly glows coming from where the eyes would be. Leo growled a low growl as he shifted his body to put himself between these apparent spirits and his family, noticing that his brothers did the same. All of them prepared to fight these undead forms of their felled opponents, even if they didn't know how.

This fight turned out not to be theirs anymore. With it's own loud roar the white dragon landed in front of the brothers, those golden eyes once again glowing as it stared down the ghostly shapes in front of it. Leo and his brothers stared at it in shock as the glow encompassed it's whole body before it flashed out to contain the vengeful apparitions. Then, just as it had done with Jeff, a doorway of darkness opened. Even brighter the glow became as the dragon, snarling with the effort, pushed these spirits through and into that hole, letting it snap shut behind them once they had passed. It let out a large, weary, sigh before it turned to look back at the dragons gaping at it. A small smile formed on it's lips again as it looked them over with eyes filled with pride and gave them a slow nod of approval. Then it shimmered, and vanished. Leaving everyone staring at the space it had just been.


	48. Chapter 48

The clearing was deathly still now. The humans and the two bots with them looking around in stunned, awed silence at what just happened. The dragons were looking at each other confused. None of them could process everything that had just gone on, not even after everything they had already seen and done.

Ratchet was the one who broke that spell as he stomped over to the dragons, eyeing their wounds. "Get out of those bodies! I need to see how much damage you took and I can't do that with forms I have no information on!"

Raph just gave him a flat look before he snorted and rolled his eyes.

Ratchet in return glared at the red banded dragon, and pulled out a wrench. "I mean it! You're big enough now to where I can use this!"

Raph just snatched it out of his hand with his good paw, and bent it into a horseshoe before he handed it back.

Blaster looked amused at the now useless thing Ratchet was holding. "I think you need a bigger wrench..." He quickly found out it wasn't quite so useless after all when Ratchet threw it at him and it hit him upside the head.

"You asked for that one." Tony calmly told the red bot as he walked over. "Seriously guys, you need to go back to turtle. You are pretty beaten up."

Mikey took a long look at the grumpy med bot and shook his head vigorously.

Tony snorted with laughter at the irritated harrumph that came from Ratchet at that.

Leo ignored all of it as his head came down towards his family, a now concerned eye on his son who looked just as bad off as he did. A low growl came out of his throat.

Ty just shook his head with a smile. "You just went through hell...and you are worried about my condition? I'm fine Dad."

Leo snorted in firm disagreement to that statement, blowing Vicky's, Amy's and Lavi's air all over the place as he did.

Amy's face took on a disgusted look. "Leo...that was sooo gross...you snotted on me... Now I need a shower and you guys managed to destroy all of them in the span of a couple of hours."

Leo gave her a mischievous look and a large, muddy, puddle of water was lifted up over her.

"Don't you dare!" Amy glared at him as her family laughed.

Leo's brows raised in amusement and he began to guide the water back away again. He was startled however when the ground began to shake under him, lost his focus on the water as he looked at Donnie and it came crashing down on top of Amy anyway.

"God damn it Leo!" Her eyes were extremely angry as she stood there, soaked, and flinging the muddy water off her arms.

Her protest went ignored as Leo instead looked at his brother questioningly. Donnie just looked back in confusion, even as the earth rumbled again under their feet.

Dennis looked around, confused and alarmed, then he looked up and his face paled. "Um...guys..."

"What!" Thane snapped as he tried to keep his feet in the next tremor.

"Does anyone by any chance happen to remember what happens when two large bodies get near each other in space?"

Dante looked at him curiously. "Well, the moon pulls on the water, which in return causes our tides and-" It dawned on him what Dennis was getting at and he looked up himself. "Oh...shit..."

That prompted everyone else to look up, and even in the morning light Unicron was clearly visible now, which meant he was close, and he was also opening up to his bot form.

"His gravity is pulling on us..." Dante breathed. "He could do anything from knock us out of our orbit to just rip the planet apart..."

This time when the ground shook, a few trees that had been severely damaged already began to fall. Leo quickly grabbed Cindy out of the way of one moments before it slammed into the ground. A crack opened up nearby that shot hot steam up into the air. Donnie quickly smashed it back shut before anyone could get hurt from it.

"Not good...so not good..." Dennis fretted. "This is going to get worse the closer he gets." He looked back up again. "Come on guys... Hurry up. Our win down here don't mean jack shit if he pulls the place apart."

.

.

"Hurry up!" Hide snapped.

"This is careful work!" Wheeljack almost snapped back as he kept at it with his cutting torch. The explosive inventor was about halfway done, but that didn't ease an overwhelmed Hide very much. He wanted Wheeljack to be all the way done before they were all done for. "This material is harder than anything I have ever seen, and is very thick. It takes precision to find the weak spots and-"

Drowning the rambling chatter out, Ironhide vented heavily as the battle still raged around him. At this rate they would be piles of scrap metal before Wheeljack finished. Or Unicron would finally open up and turn them all into space debris with his bare servos. Neither scenario was very appealing to him. The grumpy bot walked over to Wheeljack, reached out, grabbed his shoulder plating and began to drag him out of the way, ignoring the complaints. Then Hide dropped him, spun and opened fire with everything he could. Round after round impacted on the weakened spot as he unloaded. By the time he was done, the door was red with heat and drooping a little where Wheeljack had already cut. "Slug!" Hide then roared. "Use your head for something useful! Ram this fragging thing open!"

"Slug don't want too. It make Slug head hurt."

"So does adding two plus two." Sideswipe muttered as he cut an antibody into pieces, that just reformed into another one.

Hide glared at the triceratops. "I'm about to make it hurt if you don't!"

"Ironhide," Prime's tone was disapproving of his weapons specialist's temper "there is no need for more violence."

They were in the middle of a big, bad, kill everything bot...and he was worried about too much violence? Hide tried very hard not to do a bad habit he picked up while dealing with the turtles and their family. He was attempting to avoid a facepalm. And during that struggle he almost missed it when Slug rammed into that spot, hard. For a moment it looked like even the mighty Dinobot wasn't able to get through before the door suddenly gave away and he went tumbling inside. He at least fit. Grimlock got stuck when he tried to go in.

"Of all the fragging idiotic slagblasted useless scrapheaps! Did we have to bring them! Transform into your bot mode you dolt!" Hide gave the T-rex a good kick, hoping it would help. It didn't. "Gah!"

"You know..." Sideswipe said with a straight face to his twin. "I think I was worried about the wrong bot's medical condition. Hide is about to blow a gasket."

"All of them." Sunstreaker agreed calmly.

Hide gave them a quick glare before he backed up a few steps, then ran forward. His shoulder impacting against the still stuck Grimlock. The Dinobot didn't budge from his spot. Hide just growled a growl fierce enough to make the watching prehistoric idiots wince in fright a little before they joined in to help. That combined effort, and numerous curse words in both English and Cybertronian from Hide, finally managed to get Grimlock all the way through the hole. He broke through with tremendous force, bending the edges of the hole inward before he followed Slug's example and tumbled inside.

"Fall back into the spark chamber!" Prime's voice then rang out once the way was cleared. "The opening will be easier to hold!"

"But all the fun is out here!" Sideswipe whined.

Chromia just rolled her optics at the mechs around her. "Tell you what, you and Sunstreaker can stand right in front of the hole and play with them some more."

"You promise?"

"Will you just get in there!." Hide roared, grabbed the silver troublemaker and threw him inside. Sunstreaker glared at the black bot as his twin went tumbling held over wheeled pedes out of sight. "I don't want to hear it! You get in there too!"

Sunstreaker looked like he was about to mouth back, until a more violent tremor rumbled under their pedes.

"He's opening up!" Jazz pointed at the large crack on where the chest plates met.

"We are out of time!" Prowl was pushing Elita and Arcee in front of him now. "Everyone inside!"

Prime waited until the last of his bots were inside the relative safety of the spark chamber before he followed, taking out a few of the closer antibodies before he did.

The Autobots that weren't holding the hole in the door were looking around stunned. The chamber was huge and plain from what they could make out from the glow of the spark. Large enough to where the edges of it disappeared into the darkness and extended past the influence of light from the large, glowing orb that had been their destination.

"I've never seen anything like this..." Jolt looked around in awe struck wonder, despite that they were inside their mortal enemy. 'Why the double protection though? Usually the spark is reachable by just getting past the chestplate."

"Because he knows this is his only weakness we can get to." Prowl replied even as Prime closed in on it. "It makes sense to have it double protected."

Chromia looked at Prowl with a flat expression. "And yet he didn't take in Ironhide's temper into consideration."

Prowl just shrugged with a slight smile. "Maybe the mighty Unicron is also subject to slip ups."

"Hurry Boss bot!" Jazz called, his tone frantic as he looked between the twins out the hole, past the chest plates and towards where the big bot was heading. "He's right on top of Earth!" The sheer fear of that implication stripping him of his normal laid back attitude and wiping all traces of his accent away.

Prime's look was stern as he stood in front of that now very vulnerable core. Even Hide was a bit taken aback at the look in his leader's optics as he stared hard at the target they had fought so hard to reach. "No more." Prime's voice was quiet, but yet seemed to echo across the whole chamber. "No more will you destroy lives in your quest for chaos and disorder. The humans will be spared the same fate you unleashed upon countless others."

The spark itself began to pulse and throb. It seemed almost angry as Prime kept throwing his words at it. Then the door to the spark chamber opened again suddenly, allowing the antibodies to flood inside like a dam breaking and threatening to wash them all away in it's released tide. And beyond the door Hide could see the massive hand coming slowly towards them.

Prime noticed none of it as his own chest snapped open to reveal a just as restless matrix, already fully aglow in preparation of the task it was brought here to do. "It is time to light their darkest hour." And with those simple words, the matrix flared to life. A massive white beam shot out of it and upwards towards the spark of the bringer of chaos.

And it slammed into another beam of an unholy purple that came out to meet it. They both held firm, neither one backing down from the other as they both fought for dominance over the other. The antibodies stilled as their master gave now all attention to this intruder, trying to fight him off. Even the hand that had come close enough to worry even Ironhide, stilled.

The Autobots could only watch as the silent, but bright struggle continued between the two. Then, ever so slightly, the purple beam seemed to gain ground.

"Come on Prime..." Hide muttered. "Come on..."

Even the terror twins quietly watched. "He's not going to make it..." Sideswipe said quietly to his twin.

"He will." Sunstreaker replied. "He has too." But even he wasn't as sure as he sounded.

And for a simple reason they all seemed to understand instantly. The matrix was only a part of the essence of Primus, Unicron was completely intact. The odds here were not in their favor. That became even more apparent when the purple gained even more ground. But they held hope. They had too. There was nothing else they could do in this fight besides wait, and hope.


	49. Chapter 49

I was terrified. Nothing could come close to scaring me as much as watching the beginnings of your planet being torn apart. Not even the scuffle that happened earlier. Not even Leo really knew what to do as the ground shook under our feet, more steam vents ripping open with each tremor. It was when a large sinkhole opened up not far away when he snapped into action. His wing came down and he began loading up anyone he could grab. His brothers quickly got the point and did the same. Loading up our family and all the soldiers that had stayed on the base before taking to the air. Raph and Donnie even managed to fit Ratchet and Blaster up there.

Once we were in the air it was more clear on how bad it actually was. No place seemed safe down there.

"Guys! Look!" Amy was pointing at the nearby town, and the rushing water heading toward it. I knew there was a dam in the vicinity, but if it cracked or the water was just pulled up over that concrete barrier I couldn't tell you. What I could tell you was that a whole bunch of folks were about to drown. The low growl I felt course through Leo's body told me he wasn't going to let that happen as he banked towards that stream of death. He came in low over the town, ignoring the cries of fear, awe and the fingers pointed up at us. And in that instant, years of trying to keep hidden was thrown away. There was no going back now. The dragons at least had been revealed to the world.

Leo didn't seem to care. He focused solely on that incoming rush of fluid. Once he hit the break line of the water, his eyes glowed and like a puppy following it's master for a treat, the path of the water changed as Leo banked again, this time away from the town. But where to put it? The river obviously couldn't handle this much water, or it wouldn't have come so close to town.

Donnie fixed that problem as he suddenly lowered himself next to us, flying even with Leo now. Under us the ground ripped open in a makeshift trench and the water eagerly slipped into this new path made for it. Together the two dragons guided the water around the town and out into open fields where it wouldn't do too much harm. A few deer might get their feet wet, but that was about it.

Raph and Mikey tackled other problems that were putting lives in danger. Power lines were falling all over the place, and these things were causing a whole bunch of trouble. Fires for starters. Raph became the large reptile fire control as he flew low over the town himself. Putting out every flame he came across. And there was the kids trapped in the school bus. Their usual morning commute now turned into a ride of terror as they found themselves dangling off of an edge that had opened up under their vehicle. Mikey tackled that task. His large claws carefully dug into the side of the bus before his wings picked up the momentum needed to lift it and carry it out of the danger zone and to a spot nearby that seemed more stable at the moment. Then he carefully peered in to make sure he young kiddos were ok. They answered that by the way they were cheering and pointing at him in awe. The bus driver was looking like he was really hoping Mikey wasn't hungry.

"Leo!" Blaster called from Donnie's back. "Put us down! We can help these poor guys!"

Leo just nodded and banked once again and landed near where Mikey placed the bus and the others followed suit. Quickly the NEST teams and two bots were unloaded and just as quickly disappeared into the town. The turtle children were a bit more hesitant to get off.

"You too guys!" Amy snapped as she slid down. "You are damn ninjas! You don't need the cover of darkness to work in stealth. Move it!"

That one statement snapped them into motion and they quickly dismounted and disappeared too.

Cris and I both hit the ground running as the dragons lifted themselves back up into the air. They looked so tired now to me, but they still did what had to be done. Leo had found a downed power line that had trapped a woman in her car and he lowered his paw to lift it up and toss it to the side. She got out as he flew away, the fear on her face quickly turning into awe.

This was worrying me to no end. Everyone around us was taking pictures and videos as the dragons worked. Never before had they been so exposed to the public eye like this. Other versions of them yes, but not my turtles. And I didn't like it. But one good thing that came from it was that the teens could move about more freely as their fathers took all the attention. Even as I scrambled to get to a gentleman who was oblivious to the power pole falling towards him, a chain snapped out of the ally, wrapped around him and yanked him out of the way. Moments later my blonde niece was seen for just a brief instant before she disappeared over the rooftop.

Ty leaped out a moment later, tackled a little boy out of the way of another crack opening in the ground, rolled with the child to a safe distance before he let go and disappeared again, leaving the child looking around in confusion.

And amidst all of this the tremors were still picking up. Cracks were still opening and structures still falling. And it wasn't going to stop until someone did something about that big ball of asshole up there.

As if he read my thoughts, Leo's head looked worriedly up at the monstrosity hovering above us, and when he did he spied something that raised his dragon hackles up more than a little. There was a body flying in that direction, and it wasn't one of ours.

"Megatron." Ratchet came close to snarling as he also saw it. "No doubt going to take this opportunity to finish Prime off."

"There's nothing we can do but warn them." Blaster told him, his hands full of folks he plucked from a building right before it collapsed.

Ratchet sighed in frustration as I walked closer to them. "I tried. I can't get through."

"You think ol' grouchy is blocking you out?"

"More than likely."

Leo suddenly lifted upwards with a burst of speed. Speed that came from the wind Mikey was accelerating him with, even as he did the same for the other two. Together they closed in on Megatron, their eyes full of fury at the leader of the Decepticons. They weren't going to let him and his cronies who were now following blindside the Autobots. And I knew calling them back wouldn't to any good. Not that I was going to try. I thought that was pretty unsporting of them myself. But what did you expect from the big loser and his crew of losercons. I let them worry about that as I looked around and drug yet another poor soul out of the way of falling debris. The guys would have to handle that one, we were too busy down here.

Once again I was diving dodging and rolling as I held a very scared little girl and her mother close to me. What I wasn't expecting was another crack to open in front of me in the ground as I did. I tried to stop my momentum, but it was just too strong and I knew I was going to fall into that steam pit. I just held the pair closer to me and kept trying to stop.

Then I was stunned into confusion when that crack suddenly snapped back shut and I rolled over right where it had been waiting to swallow us whole. I looked around in confusion, not quite understanding what just happened and wondering if Donnie could reach out this far. Then I could have sworn I saw something. A flash of white disappearing behind one of the buildings near me. Was that a wing? I shook my head. Nah... I was stressed and seeing shit. I had to be. Donnie had closed the crack back up, not some mysterious figure from my imagination. Me going crazy was inevitable I suppose. Maybe Will could set me up in a nice nut house, I'd be needing one soon anyway without Leo being here... I shook my head to clear those thoughts back out, now wasn't the time to break down. I could fall to pieces later.

.

.

Leo's shoulder hit the Decepticon's underside hard, knocking him off his course which led him towards Unicron and sent him spiraling in the other direction. Then the dragon firmly placed himself between Megatron and his objective.

"You dare strike me! I am the supreme warrior! I have honed my battle skills in the-"

That was about as far as he got before Raph's tail slammed into him, sending him somersaulting in the air again. Leo's younger brother was already annoyed with this loudmouthed braggart apparently. Not that Leo blamed him. It had been a long night and was turning into an even longer day. If they lived through it.

Megatron's eyes were blazing in anger as he glared at the dragon that just sent him in an embarrassing spin and he readied himself for another charge, right up until Starscream flew by screaming like a little girl. With Mikey right on his tail, his jaws snapping dangerously close to Starscream's sitting area. Well, Leo assumed it was his sitting area. It was hard to tell with him in jet mode.

The large Con looked around, his anger rising as he saw his backup being scattered to the four winds. Well, what did he think would happen? The dragons just faced and fought down four of Unicron's Heralds, these guys weren't even a worthy after party compared to that.

But still, this one was a fierce and crafty opponent in his own right, and Leo didn't underestimate him one bit. Even if his second in command was an idiot who was still flying in circles screaming.

A fact someone else also took note of. Megatron suddenly stopped his charge towards Leo and Raph, his hands going to his head as a purple glow surrounded him. Leo looked at Donnie who replied by shaking his head. The glow wasn't coming from the purple banded dragon. A low growl came out of Leo's throat when he thought of who else it could be, and he looked up again.

"No!" Megatron roared. "Megatron serves no one! I will take down Prime and I will do so under my own free will!"

Leo sighed. Alright, there was the confirmation he needed. It was Unicron. Apparently Prime was doing something up there to make Unicron nervous. That was a good thing, right? But then why did he suddenly feel a large sense of unease wash over him? As if there was a shift in the forces around him? Leo felt a tug deep inside him, a tug that seemed to want to pull him upwards to that unseen struggle high above him. A feeling that was screaming out at him that something wasn't going right. Suddenly his instincts kicked into high gear and his brothers also seemed to feel that pull as they joined him. The Decepticons now not on their list of priorities, but also not completely forgotten as Mikey casually swatted one out of the air that got too close.

Then, almost as if they seemed to have been forced into his mind, words of his almost forgotten about conversation with Mizuchi came back to mind. _'Do not let the might of the dragon force you into forgetting how you have overcome all of the other obstacles you have faced. Fight as dragons as you would fight as normal mortals.'_ Suddenly Leo understood what had confused him before. He knew what to do.

He looked at his brothers a moment before he turned to fully face the Chaos bringer and flew even higher. As high as he could go. His brothers were a bit confused on why they were leaving the Cons now far below them, but they didn't question it as they followed.

When he could go no higher, Leo hovered a moment as he intently searched for what he was looking for and his eyes narrowed when he saw he open chest plate. He couldn't make out where his friends were, but he guessed that it would more than likely be near the faint purple glow he saw in the middle of that opening.

The bright blue glow was already formed when he opened his mouth and his dragon flame shot out towards that purple orb off in the distance. His brothers followed his lead and they joined Leo in sending their flames out. The streams soared out, unerringly heading for their intended target. Then, just as the brothers always did when it was needed, the flames came together, joining as one bright white light. Their wings were flapping frantically now to hold up against the force they were unleashing.

Even as high up as they were, the beam could still be seen from the ground and all activity stopped as all watched the display, everyone mesmerized by the power these creatures brought forth. Vicky gently set the child down she had been holding and walked away from the others, her sister turtle mates joining her as the awe they felt for their mates overwhelmed them. Their children watched in disbelief from the rooftop they had gathered on.

Ironhide was the first one to spot the incoming beam, and didn't know what to make of it. Then he and the other Autobots were awash in it's glow, but remained unharmed as it moved onward towards Prime, the leader who was still struggling to finish his task. The light then reached the light of the matrix and combined with it, intensifing it and grew with it before it slammed into that opposing beam. The purple beam that seemed only moments before to have the upper hand, was suddenly forced back into the spark that spawned it. Then the combined power of the matrix and the balance of the dragons slammed into that large orb, blasting the outer layers away as it mercilessly tore deeper and deeper into it. Until there was a final layer left.

Hide blinked in astonishment at what he was seeing, no words could describe what he was seeing because he had never seen anything like this before. Then, just for a moment, Hide could have sworn he saw a shadow inside that last remaining layer. A shadow of someone he thought he recognized as the figure slammed it's sword into the chest of another, larger, shadow inside before that last layer was also blown away and there was nothing left to see as the lights dimmed. The Autobots gaped at each other in astonishment, by the love of Primus...they had actually won... The spark of Unicron was no more...

Then the whole place began to rumble and the moment was ruined.

"Time to go!" Sideswipe hooped. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sick of this place. All the fun stuff is gone."


	50. Chapter 50

"On ya feet Boss Bot!" Jazz urged their leader who had fallen to his knees sometime in the light show. "Tahm ta go."

Prime nodded his agreement, but couldn't seem to get his limbs to work right as he struggled to do just that. They didn't have time for him to recover though. What was left of Unicron was protesting violently over the abrupt removal of the spark. This time when the violent shudders began, they didn't stop, just grew in intensity.

Jolt was already calling for Omega Supreme to meet up with them as Hide whirled to the nearest Dinobot, which happened to be Scorn. "Grab Prime and let's go!"

Scorn just nodded in agreement and scooped up the Autobot leader surprisingly gently in his spinosaurus arms. Grimlock led the charge out, roaring as he stomped along and shouldered the now falling debris out of the way to clear a path. He was surprisingly quick and the others struggled to keep up with his long strides, except Sideswipe. He was just skating alongside the large Dinobot with ease, his body bent low like one of those professional Earth speed skaters. Slug's head slammed into a fallen metal beam, shoving it out of the way with his head without even breaking stride.

They were at the edge of the drop off that marked the end of their running room when Omega lowered himself into position, his loading door already open and the ramp sliding out without him even touching down. He hovered as they quickly ran inside, and was moving even before they were settled, closing up as he flew away.

"Faster! Must go faster!" Mirage was almost yelling, Bumblebee nodding his head in agreement as the explosions started.

"Omega Supreme understands, but can not comply without risking damage." As if to make his point, he tilted sharply to avoid a large piece that was breaking away from what had been Unicron's hand.

Normally Hide would have throw a fit, but he just kept quiet and held on the best he could. His complaining would do nothing but distract their ride as he fought to get them all out of there.

"Too close..." Wheeljack was muttering as he looked out the window to the destruction now all around them. "We are too close. We're going to get caught up in the main blast!"

"You should be used to that by now." Sideswipe told him as he pushed his twin off of him. "You've been blowing things up for a milennia now, if not longer."

But Wheeljack had a reason to be concerned, they all did. Even if Sideswipe refused to admit it. There was no way to clear the blast radious.

 _'Fear not noble Cybertronians.'_ Ironhide stared as the faint outline of the Japanese Goddess came into view. _'Your escape to safety will be aided. As will the planet below be shielded from the remains of the Chaos bringer. This is now our task to take on.'_ Then she faded back out.

And as soon as she was out of sight Omega suddenly jolted forward, sending everyone inside tumbling once again all over the place.

"Me Grimlock no like this no more! Me Grimlock want off! Me Grimlock tired of falling down!"

"That makes two of us." Hide muttered as he struggled back up into a standing position.

What they couldn't see was that once they passed a certain boundary, a line of figures came into view. Amaterasu had brought all of those she led with her and now they hovered between the planet below them and the increasing explosions above. Their hands came up and began to glow brightly before a soft glowing white barrier came up in front of them, just moments before what was left of Unicron exploded in a blinding flash. The shock wave and shrapnel hit the barrier hard, causing many of the gods to struggle to hold it in place. If the intent had been to hold this force back, they would have failed. Instead the barrier curved, guiding the blast around the planet and out into the empty space beyond. But even that was enough to exhaust the majority of the lesser gods Amaterasu had brought with her.

Even the tiny god of healing looked more than a little beat down as he approached her. "Mistress, it is done. May we have your permission to withdraw? I feel tainted dealing with the scraps of the outworlder."

"Yes, Sukuma. You and the others may depart." She sighed a moment before looking at the planet under them that had been spared. "I can not. There is one more task that must be completed. One I find distasteful myself, but it must be done."

"It does not seem fair to me mistress."

"Nor to me. But that it what had been agreed upon, and we are bound to that agreement now."

Sukuma just nodded before he and most of the others departed back to their home. Amaterasu just hovered a moment longer, now very hesitant to visit her champions. Because she knew in this visit she would rip a family apart.

.

.

When the lightshow finally died down up there, Blaster broke out in a very wide grin. "They did it! Primus! They actually did it!"

Even Ratchet had that relieved look on his face and ignored the hard excited slap Blaster placed on his back. "Yes, it seems as if they did." He actually smiled a bit.

I wasn't paying either of them any attention as my eyes swept the skies, looking for those four large silhouettes to come back into my view. They were so high up I couldn't see them anymore and the only hint I had of where they had been was the beam that flew across the sky earlier.

"There!" Cait pointed to the four specks that were rapidly growing larger as our dragons finally made their way back down.

We watched them as they drew closer, their path going straight down. I frowned at that. Wouldn't they be angeling our way? I mean, they did know we were here and not way the fuck over there.

"Something is wrong." Marina mumbled and I slowly nodded my agreement.

Still they came down, and my unease grew even as I watched. Without even knowing why, I broke out into a run to where their trajectory was taking them, trying to keep an eye on them as I did. It didn't take me long to notice that Cris, Marina and Caitlin were matching me step for step as I disappeared into the treeline.

"Mom! Wait!" Amy called after me. I ignored her, my attention fully on those descending dragons.

My fears turned out to be well founded when they came into view enough for us to see that they weren't flying down, they were falling. Their limbs and wings moving limply in the current their passing caused as they sped towards the ground. I ran faster, fear taking hold of me now.

I lost sight of them because of the trees moments before they hit the ground, but the four very violent tremors and the sounds of their impact told me they had made contact with the ground, hard.

The dust was still thick in the air from their impact when we finally broke through the trees and we found them in the craters their landing bedded them in. We stared in shocked disbelief a second before we rushed forward.

"Mikey!" Caitlin almost screamed, her tone matching the terror I was feeling as I closed in on Leo's limp body.

I slid down the side of the crater, only coming to a stop once I reached Leo's head. "Leo!" My eyes were frantically searching his body for any sign of life. I was relieved to see his chest moving, but scared on how shallow those breaths seemed. He was barely clinging to life. "Leo..." Tears filled my eyes as I ran my hand over his snout, not knowing what else to do. "What happened..."

His blue eye opened slightly, trying to focus in on me as he weakly moved his head under my hand. But it was a dazed look, a weak one. A look of someone one who had nothing left in him to fight with, much less stay alive. I was losing him. And the frightened crying I heard told me I wasn't the only one.

The arrival and Ratchet with our children went unnoticed as I cried, my hand softly stroking the creature who was the center of my world, trying to get him to hold on. Leo's eye wandered over to the children we had raised as they ran over to join us, and his breathing slowed even more. Ratchet ran over to Raph, who was the closet to him. But even his eyes held no hope. He didn't understand their anatomy in these bodies, and the confusion I saw on his face told me he didn't even know what was wrong. The miracle worker medbot had no answers for the desperate Cris who was pleading with him to save Raph.

"Daddy!" Lavi screeched. "Get up! You have to get up!"

He did try, but his effort only resulted in his head shifting a small distance on the ground before it grew still again, a very faint rumble coming out of his throat. Then his eye focused on something else and he actually managed a low growl before his head lifted a few inches off of the ground, only to fall right back down again.

"So, the mighty creatures aren't so mighty afterall." Megatron sneered as he came into view. "And to think I wasted time and effort on trying to claim the gems of power." Then he got the most gleefully evil look on his face you could think of as he raised his blaster. "Perhaps I should be merciful and put them out of their misery."

"You leave them alone!" Ari screamed at him. "You big fucking coward!"

"And who is going to make me? You?" The blaster lit up. In another instant it would fire on the defenseless dragons who were now at his mercy.

But the shot never connected with it's intended target. Megatron was hit with a blast of pure white light that sent him hurtling to the ground and the shot went into the air.

"Not her, leader of the Decepticons." Amaterasu told him firmly as she moved in on him, her hands still aglow. "But I. Stay away from my champions!" Then she blasted him again, and once more. "Begone from this place!" A fourth time she lashed out at him.

By the time the fifth one hit he got the point. "You." He sneered at her. "You and your kind will be dealt with soon enough. But not now. The time isn't right." And with those confusing words, he took to the air.

The light goddess took a deep breath as she watched him go, then turned and made her way over to where I was watching. I was still crying and my hand had never left Leo through that exchange and I was staring at her in desperation. "Please! Please tell me there is something you can do!" Leo's eyes had slipped back shut again by this point, and you could tell he was trying to open them again. "They are dying!"

"Calm yourself water companion. I had indeed prepared for this outcome." Her eyes grew hard then. "And if my preparations do not show themselves they will deal with my wrath!"

Slowly, ever so slowly, the gods I had first seen in the cave came into view. Almost as if they were embarrassed to have been caught slacking at something. Amaterasu apparently knew what they were slacking about because she fixed a very angry stare at them. "You know what to do. I should not be here to remind you of that!"

Kagu-tsuchi winced a little at her tone, but he didn't move right away either. "Mistress, we saw the opportunity to let the matter resolve itself. There would be no further need of our interference if we just let them slip away to the afterlife."

If he had hoped that reasoning would calm the normally gentle goddess, he was dead wrong. She literally flared up in anger, her glow extending to her whole body as her eyes went an eerie white and her black hair flared around her from the aura she was giving off. Even I shrunk away from her a little. "This is not what was agreed to! And you will be bound by your word! You know what is required of you, and you will see to it that it is done!"

They scrambled into motion very quickly after that outburst. So quick that their feet skidded out from under them when they stopped by the dragon they were bound too. I glared at Watasumi, just as angry as Amaterasu was over the fact they would just let the guys die. I just couldn't do the fancy light show like she could to get my point across though. Didn't mean I wasn't tempted to beat his face in with my asp.

The God of the Sea didn't meet my glare as I kept staring at him. He seemed almost embarrassed as he zeroed in on Leo's collarbone area, placing a hand at the V where the two sides met in the middle at the bottom of Leo's neck. The spot under that hand began to glow.

"What are you doing?" Ty asked, his tone also hinting at his anger.

"They carry their gems in this form as well child. But it is hidden inside of them to keep it safe. I must reach it to unlock what I need to restore him." Again, the god seemed almost apologetic as he focused solely on his task now.

Leo's chest was barely moving by the time the glow brightened to the point I had to look away. But not before a column of water shot out of that glowing spot to spiral up and around in the air directly above Leo. Then that water solidified and turned into an asian style dragon, and the look it gave Watasumi clearly told me it wanted to sink it's teeth into the god. "You walk a fine line with our charge Watasumi. A very fine line." Then he also began to glow, a bright blue, and it flowed out from him to surround Leo.

I blinked in shock. I knew that voice. "Mizuchi?"

The dragon smiled at me but didn't stop what he was doing and a moment later Leo was laying on the ground next to me in his turtle form. But he still wasn't moving. I was about to pull him against me when a glowing blue tail held me back. Mizuchi's head came low on my other side and he looked calmly a me. "Hold firm. It is not finished yet."

I looked at him, then back to Leo and the god who helped himself to Leo's pouch, and the sapphire Leo kept in it. Watasumi held the gem in his hands over Leo and once more my turtle was surrounded in a blue glow. I could only watch with worry, not even beginning to understand what was going on. Then I didn't care what was going on when Leo took a very deep breath and moved his limbs weakly. It was then Mizuchi moved his tail and I threw myself across Leo, wrapping my arms around his neck as I sobbed into his shoulder.

The slight pressure of his arms folding around me was the most welcome feeling I've felt in a long time. "That hurt a bit..." His voice said tiredly into my ear. I sat back up a little, laughing and crying at the same time, to see those blue eyes looking back at me. And his smile lit up my world as he calmly brushed the hair out of my face. Then he was buried under Amy and Lavi as they had to have their turns to hug him. Ty and Dennis were a bit more dignified. They just hid their misty eyes and helped him up into a sitting position.

I used that moment of distraction to look around, and was almost brought to tears again to see the others sitting up as well. Tired and a little confused, but they were alive when just moments before they had been on death's doorstep. Cait and Ari both had a deathgrip on Mikey and wasn't letting him go for anything. Cris and Marina were pretty much the same way. Raph even held his wife close to him, his own eyes closed to keep back the tears that threatened to fall down his cheeks. So much for the rough and tough turtle facade.

Then, just as we overcame the fear that we had lost them, we were reminded that we still were going to lose them. "Now," Kagu-tsuchi firmly said "it is time to complete our agreement. It is time to send them away with the spirits."


	51. Chapter 51

"No..." I whimpered, the tears springing to my eyes again.

Cris wasn't so quiet about it. "No! I won't let you!"

The fire god glared her down. Well, he tried to anyway. Cris just glared right back at him. "You have no say in the matter mortal." Kagu-tsuchi reminded her, a bit smugly if you ask me. "The agreement was made between the gods and the champions. Your input is of no concern to me."

"Why you pompous, arrogant, smug faced, cocky son of a bitch!" Nope, Cris wasn't mad at all. "I'm going to beat that damn smile off of your face!"

"Attempt to do so and it will be the last thing you do woman."

"Now wait just a god damn minute!" Raph roared as he struggled to his feet. Oh the irony in that statement. _Can_ he damn himself? "You hurt one hair on her head and I'll-"

"You will do nothing but sit and rest!" The red dragon near him snapped as he pushed Raph back to the ground again with his tail. "I do not wish to see you revived twice in the span of less than an hour!" Then that red head turned to glare at Cris' target of anger. "And you will not harm the female. The fault is not hers that you wish to abruptly rip them away from their mates. She has a right to feel anger towards you."

"Do not forget your place Futsu!" Kagu-tsuchi sneered at him.

"I do not petty godling." Came the growling answer. "I follow Amaterasu's bidding, not your selfish whims. Test me god of fire." His tail slammed into the ground in his own anger. "Test me and see how much respect I have for you."

Kagu-tsuchi seemed to be willing to do just that when his hands flared up with fire. The dragon just snorted in disdain and he too erupted into flames, his face now snarling at the god. Kagu-tsuchi flinched at that display. Apparently the dragons carried their own weight around like a club and weren't afraid to use it. That had me wondering just how powerful these spirits actually were.

"Oh crap..." Mikey muttered as he watched. "We are about to be caught in the middle of a firework display here..."

"Enough!" Amaterasu placed herself in between the god and the furious dragon. "Has there not been enough strife this day?"

Futsu snorted again, but let his flames go out. "The god began the disagreement."

Mizuchi rolled his yellow eyes. Even as dire as the situation was I smiled up at the blue dragon and he winked in return.

"The fact remains however, it is time to have the champions depart." Watasumi spoke up. "It had been so agreed."

"But you don't even give us time to give our family a proper farewell!" Leo snapped at him. "Is that to much to ask for? Are you that heartless that you just tell us it's time to go and don't care that we'll never get a chance to see them again without at least giving us some time with them?" The blue clad god stared a him a moment, then looked away in shame.

"You have had a lifetime with them." Kagu-tsuchi snapped. "That is long enough."

Leo's eyes flashed in anger, but there wasn't anything he really could do about it. Not with me clinging to him.

Amaterasu sighed as she looked around. "I fear I must bend to their will on the matter. This is part of the agreement they hold. I am truly sorry."

"At least give us a few moments!" Mikey begged, tears in his eyes as he still held wife and daughter to him.

Kagu-tsuchi rolled his eyes, but nodded. "Hurry. I do not wish to be on this mortal plane longer than I must. This place disgusts me."

He got all kinds of glares from the turtle family for that remark.

I suppose we should have been telling Leo how much we loved him and how much we would miss him and how we would always think about him. But we couldn't. All we could do was cry all over him as he tried to hold us all close to him at the same time. Even the boys had a hard time keeping a dry eye and finally just gave up. He took the time to whisper a few words to each of the children, and tried to reassure them with a smile here and there. It didn't work. Lavi and Amy were crying even harder by the time he finally got around to me.

"I love you Vicky." His words quietly spoke into my ear. "Don't ever forget that. I may not be there, but I'll always love you."

I just sobbed harder as his arm tightened around me, his lips kissing my hair for the last time before he moved away. I couldn't even tell him I love him too because I just couldn't quit crying long enough to put the words together.

 _'I know you do dear one.'_

I reached out my arms to him, so desperately wanting him to come back. But he kept moving away to join his brothers who were all now waiting next to Amaterasu. My knees were about to buckle out from under me and Ty and Dennis had to hold me up. I clung to both of them as the tears streamed down my face.

"Are you ready?" Amaterasu asked the turtles, who with a final sad look at their families nodded their agreement.

"Are the gods ready to bind them to the spirit world?"

"We are." Kagu-tsuchi replied. Cris flipped him off.

"Are the spirits ready to take them?"

"No." Mizuchi firmly disagreed. "We refuse."

Everyone blinked. Wasn't expecting that answer.

 _"What!"_ Kagu-tsuchi roared.

"Are you deaf as well as slow?" Futsu asked him. "Mizuchi speaks true. We refuse."

Even Amaterasu looked at her spirits in disbelief that they would break the pact. "You can not refuse. You are binded to the agreement as well as the rest of us."

"Forgive us Mistress, but you err." The light purple dragon hovering near Donnie told her. I stared at her through tear stained eyes, surprised through my grief to hear a female voice coming from it. I thought they were all males. Huh...

"How so Tschuchi?"

"When the pact was made, you asked the champions and the gods for their agreement on the matter. They agreed to the pact. We were not asked, therefor we did not agree to it. We are not bound to this aspect. The only thing we are bound to is that our powers be linked to them as long as life breaths in them."

"Pure sophistry!" An enraged fire god snapped at her.

"And yet," The orange dragon spoke, also in a female voice "a very important aspect. For without our agreement we refuse to take them into our world. And if we do not take them, you can not bind them to us there. So even if you decide to place them there yourselves, we can bring them back."

"Not without being summoned!"

"Again the gods err." The same dragon replied. "We must be summoned to come to this plane in full body, but our essence is free to travel wherever we wish them to go."

Futsu grinned at the stupefied expression on the faces of the outwitted gods. "Morokuma is correct. Rest assured knowing that if you remove them from this plane, we will find a way to return them."

I listened with wide eyes, hope filling me at what I was hearing. Amaterasu was also looking a little stunned over what was happening in front of her, then she smiled a sly smile that she quickly hid when Kagu-tsuchi spun angrily towards her.

"This can not be allowed! Can you not control your own pets?"

The look she gave him clearly informed everyone that she was not happy with his choice of words and tone. "Watch where you direct your anger. The fault is just as much yours as it is mine in this oversight. This should have been brought up before the pact was made, now it is too late to change it. This oversight is what will now allow them to stay."

Kagu-tsuchi was so mad I bet you could pop popcorn on his head. "Heed my words champions! If you so much as stray a single inch out of line with those powers, I _will_ find a way to confine you! Do not seek to rise above yourselves in the ladder of power!"

This time Futsu rolled his eyes. "Oh, begone from this place. I tire of hearing your prattle. Next time you imbeciles should perhaps think all aspects of the matter through, and not just assume we are slaves that do whatever you wish us to do." Then he flicked his tail dismissively at the fuming god before turning to the turtles who were looking back at him with opened mouthed shock. "Well, go on. Return to your families. These walking pillars of stupidity will not take you from them."

Leo was back in my arms before the dragon even finished that statement, holding me in a death grip before he made room for our daughters in that huddle. And yes, we were all crying again, but this time for a completely different reason.

The dragons watched with a smile, Kagu-tsuchi looked like he was about to hop up and down in place. Kinda reminded me of a pissed off Elmer Fudd actually...or maybe a mad Wile E. Coyote... A toss up there between the two...

"Are you still here?" Futsu flatley looked at him. Amaterasu had to cover the smile on her face with her hand. "Was I not clear enough for you? Let me make it clearer. Go. Away."

I could have sworn I saw smoke coming out of the god's ears before he finally poofed out. Two of the others followed him, but one remained just a bit longer.

Watasumi looked on with a less angry expression, but still a concerned one as he looked at Leo. "You risk much to remain with your family."

"I will risk everything because they are worth it to me."

"Even if they are the ones at risk?"

"Are you threatening them?" The look he gave the god told him that he better _not_ be.

"Not at all. I just do not understand why you chose to stay with them and make them possible targets in the future."

"Quite simple really. I love them, and it's that love that gives me the strength to keep going. And if they do become targets," Leo's eyes grew very hard as he kept the god in his sights "I'll make damn sure that whoever is putting the crosshairs on them will regret doing so." Those eyes narrowed. "God or not. I don't care. They are worth fighting for, and I _will_ fight for them."

"I see it as a weakness."

"Then you are a fool." Ok, I flinched at that one. What was it with Leo wanting to bully gods? Did he _want_ to get turned into a frog or something? "A fool who doesn't understand, but maybe you should."

Watasumi's eyes had grown hard and cold at that. "And what makes you think I do not?"

"Because if you did, you wouldn't have agreed to this in the first place because you would have understood how wrong ripping apart a family actually is. I don't care about power. I never have. Everything I ever want in life is right here next to me. Nothing you can offer me is more powerful than that."

Silence was the answer to that statement as the god lost some of his hostility, and oddly enough a bit of regret flashed across his features. "You will learn differently with time."

"I seriously doubt it. Hold your loved ones close enough to you, and you really don't need anything else. Don't hold them close enough and you lose everything."

This time Watasumi looked troubled as he watched us, then looked over at the other families who were busy comforting each other. Then he sighed slightly before he followed his fellow gods and faded out of sight.

"Be wary of them." Mizuchi said once Watasumi left. "And be careful with the gift you have been given. I am not so sure they will willingly come to your aid again."

"Again?" Futsu snorted. "They did not come willingly this time!"

"Um...excuse me..." I was a little hesitant to cut into the conversation after seeing Futsu's quick temper. "But can someone please explain to me why they had to do that...glowy thing in the first place?"

"It comes with the restrictions placed on them." Morokuma answered. "There were limits placed on how much of their power they can actually use. They had been given just enough to handle the heralds, it was _not_ the intent of the gods for the dragons to attempt to take down the outworlder. In doing so they passed the limits of their restrictions, which in return drained their life force to almost nothing. When that happens the only thing that can restore them is the part of them stored inside the gems. And only the bonded god can unlock it again to revive them."

"So, if the god refuses," Mizuchi told us "then the champion will die."

I swallowed real hard at that and held onto Leo just a bit tighter. "Don't do that no more."

"Yes ma'am." He smiled at me before he suddenly collapsed to his knees, only now was I noticing how much he was actually tembeling.

Mizuchi curled around him to hold him steady. "And they will be weak for sometime still. They will recover, but _must_ rest. Even now if they push themselves too far they will need another intervention."

Amaterasu nodded her agreement. "You must keep in mind the limits at all times. Do not push past them that far again unless it is needed."

Leo nodded his understanding, he was too tired to do anything else.

"Alright!" Ratchet boomed, reminding us all that he was there. "You heard them! You are all under bedrest orders until I say otherwise!"

"Um...Ratchet?" I turned in surprise. Tony was walking up with a grin on his face. Apparently all the NEST troops had gathered while we were busy. "We kind of don't have any beds to put them on bed rest with..."

Ratchet glared at him a moment. "Fine...smartaft. They are on _ground_ rest then." He spun and glared at the turtles. "Lay down! All of you!"

Mikey just fell over backwards, but not because Ratchet told him too. He was laughing his weak ass off. "Groundrest! What the hell is groundrest!"

"It means I will knock you into the ground if you don't settle down right now."

Mikey immediately shut back up again.

"But he's already on the ground." Amy muttered to Dennis.

"Just leave it alone. Ratchet might to knock him a few times to see how deep he can get Mikey to go."

"Good point."


	52. Chapter 52

It was late evening when Leo slowly blinked his eyes open. The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't resting on the ground anymore, but was now on a cot inside of a tent. Outside the tied open entrance flap he heard the bustling of what sounded like a very busy campsite as numerous voices talked and even shouted to one another. The beeping of heavy machinery could also be heard and the tremors their passing caused rocked his resting area slightly. You would think it was all this noise that woke the tired turtle, but it wasn't.

His weary eyes were led to the corner of the tent where there was a soft glowing light. And in that light, sitting quietly on the floor as she waited, was Amaterasu. A smile found it's way on her face when she noticed that he was awake. "I did not wish you to lie in darkness when you awoke. It did not seem right."

He sat up a little, a bit surprised on how tired he was still. "It's normal for me goddess. I've lived most of my life in darkness." He placed a weary hand on his head, trying to rub away the headache that seemed stuck right between his eyes.

"That still does not mean I agree with it." She stubbornly replied. "Have you rested enough?"

"My body is telling me no, but I'm not so sure I can sleep anymore."

"Your health is already much improved."

Sure didn't feel like it on his end. He lowered his hand and looked directly at her. Not really in the mood for polite chit chat about lights and his health. "Why are you here Amaterasu?" He swung his legs over the edge of his cot. "I'm getting a strong feeling that your kind wants nothing to do with us. And if I am completely honest, I'm not sure if I want anything more to do with you."

She sighed as she watched him stand up, then rose to her own feet. And she still had to look up at him. Never really crossed his mind before on how small she actually was. She always seemed bigger to him. "A sentiment I can understand. We have done nothing to earn your trust. And after what had unfolded today..." She shook her head in frustration. "I can only apologize."

"For you or for them? If you apologize for them, I won't accept it." Leo walked around her to reach out for his katanas that had been carefully leaned up against the tent wall.

"It is my duty to accept the responsibility for their actions."

"But they are also in control of those actions." He strapped his harness on, his eyes slightly angry as he did. "The fault is theirs, not yours."

"Then at least let me apologize for the grief we have caused your family. That was also partly my doing."

Leo's hands adjusted the straps with short, angry jerks that belied the calm tone he spoke in. "Yes, it was." He picked up the belt that held his various throwing weapons, and the pouch that held the gem.

"Please my champion, tell me. What frustrates you so?"

He spun back around to face her, his blue eyes angry. "What frustrates me? You have to ask that?" The grip on his belt he still held tightened, his knuckles going white. "Let me list the ways on how you and your kind frustrate me. First, you send us nightmare visions. Not just to my brothers and I, but to my wife and sisters as well. You take them over to go fetch these little trinkets. Then after we deal with this puzzle you place in front of us, you send us on a trip to the other side of the planet, just to pay you a house call. You let that...thing attack my son, let my children fall off of a cliff, let all of us including our friends almost get hit by those falling drones. You have set into motion a series of events that kept scaring my family and putting them into danger...and you have the nerve to ask what frustrates me?" He finally lost his temper and threw the belt onto the floor. "And you barely lifted a damn finger to help! What possible reason can you give me to justify all of this! What happened today was only the end of a long road of frustration!"

Her eyes took on a defeated look as she sat heavily down on the cot he had vacated. "I can not give you one that will calm your anger. Everything that was done, was done in a way to try and help you to understand the gravity of the situation and to make the choice placed in front of you more clear."

Leo clenched his jaw at that. "You're right, it doesn't calm me. Did it ever occur to you to just come to us and ask? You had to drag us through all of this?"

"I had feared you would refuse."

He almost rolled his eyes. He brought his hand up to rub them instead. "Oh for crying out loud... All of this just because you were afraid of a simple no." He leaned over to retrieve his belt.

"That no would have led to disastrous results."

"It would have, if we would have said it." Leo shook his head as he finally wrapped the belt around his waist. "You may be a god Amaterasu, but that doesn't mean you know the right way to do everything. This, was not the right way." Again, quick angry jerks secured the leather to him. "And it is that assumption you have that is really tempting me to throw you out of this tent on your ass."

"I deserve it."

"Yes, you do. The only thing that is keeping me from doing so are the manners my father and wife have spent years beating into me." He pulled a katana out, carefully checking the blade for any damage that might have been received.

Now she looked a little exasperated at him. "What more do you wish me to say? I attempt to apologize, and you refuse it. I give an explanation, you do not accept it. What more can I do to appease you?"

The katana twirled in his hand before it slid back into it's sheath. "Why is is my approval even so important to you?"

"Because I do not wish you to believe that all of the gods are the same!" She suddenly flared. "Some of us do care about the fate of mortals here. I care about the mortals here. If I could have, I would have gladly taken up the task I placed upon you to spare you and your kin the agony of what you went through."

"Why didn't you then? If you care as much as you say you do, then why even throw mortals out there like that?"

He didn't know what he was expecting her to answer with, but tears wasn't it. Amaterasu looked at him with those drops of moisture falling down her cheek before she abruptly turned her head away. "Because I am not strong enough. Alone I could not bring the balance needed to face them, and eons of hate and mistrust has corrupted so many gods and most have lost their way. I had no other option...and I apologize for forcing the matter on you. I saw the perfect harmony in you and your brothers that was lost to us so long ago. It shames me to admit that I held more faith in you, than in my own kind."

Leo closed his eyes and let his anger flow out of him with a simple sigh. He still didn't agree with her methods, but her world left her with what she felt was no other option. That, he could understand. He himself had been forced to do things in ways he didn't necessarily agree with. "And what happens now?"

"You live you life the way you see fit."

His arms crossed as he narrowed his eyes at her. "Really. Forgive me if I'm a little skeptic on that. We are still tied to you through the spirits. What is to say you won't try and get us fix another one of your godly messes?"

"Because it was never my intent to control you. I give the gift freely to you. Use it as you need and do good with it. I ask for nothing in return, both because I do not have the right to ask and you can better judge where it will best come into use."

"You are serious... You are going to just turn and walk away?"

She wiped her eyes as she stood back up, and gave him a soft smile. "Not quite. I have been watching you for a long time now. That is a habit I do not wish to break. It does my heart good to see what you and your brothers have accomplished. And it is my hope that you can accomplish even more with the power of the dragon. I will still watch over your family, and aid you if it is needed. But as to tell you which way to go with your life, that I will not do. I hope that in time you come to trust me more than you do now. That you understand that I am not as heartless as my kin." Amaterasu then calmly lifted a hand and placed it on his head, after having to lift herself up in the air to even reach his head, before letting a soft glow come out of her hand.

Leo was a little shocked at what happened next. A warmth slowly flooded into him and slowly pushed the pain of that annoying headache away and his mood brightened considerably once she removed her hand. He actually found himself giving her a grateful smile when she was done. 'Fine, you win. Peace offering accepted."

"I'm so glad to hear that." Mikey said from outside right before he peered in. "Was starting to get worried that you were going to be an ass to her all night."

The blue banded turtle really wasn't surprised to see him there. "And what about you other two? Ready to come jump to her aid if this didn't turn out to well?"

Raph and Donnie peered in next, their faces a little sheepish. Raph just shrugged it off. "She came and talked to us too Leo. She really does seem to mean well."

"She was even a little worried that you hadn't woken up yet." Donnie added. "We've been up for a couple hours already."

"No." Mikey corrected. "We've been awake for a couple of hours. Ratchet wouldn't let us up."

"Anyway. We trust her Leo. I know we aren't as good about reading individuals as you are, but something about her rings true. She doesn't mean us any harm. And if you think about it, she's pretty much been trying to fight in our corner every step of the way. She didn't have to bully the others to help us you know."

"I know Donnie." Leo sighed. "And I think I may have come down a bit hard on her."

"Not as hard as I did." Raph admitted as he rubbed the back of his head. "You're fit was pretty mild compared to mine."

Mikey turned his head to stare at his hotheaded brother. "You think? You called her, and I quote, 'A meddling walking light bulb that had air up in the space the light was needed the most.' Leo was at least somewhat nice about it."

"Shuddup."

Mikey snickered.

Amaterasu didn't seem offended by it at all. She just smiled at the big turtle who just shrugged apologetically back at her. "I think it best to depart now, before the tentative ground we have gained between us is lost again."

"Will we ever see you again?" Mikey actually looked a little sad that she was leaving.

"I am sure we will do so windwalker." She reached out and patted his arm. "Who knows what the future has in store for us all?" And with those final words she was gone and Leo's tent seemed so much darker.

They looked at the spot she had been a few moments before Leo's turning to the tent opening broke them out of their daze. "What's going on out here?" He asked as he stepped outside and right into the outer edges of a massive construction effort starting.

"Base rebuilding." Donnie answered as he walked at Leo's side. "They are clearing the rubble out right now, but soon enough the whole complex will be rebuilt."

"So soon? How did they get all of the equipment out here so fast?"

"Ground bridged it in from other bases."

"Ah. Very useful device."

"Does make things a lot easier. Ratchet was throwing a fit about not having anything to work with until they just opened it and started throwing supplies through. Shut him up real nicely."

Leo chuckled a little. "And what has our family been doing while we were all napping?"

"Helping." Raph told him. "They seemed very set on it actually. Haven't seen them work so hard on something besides training before."

"Good. Hopefully it will keep them out of trouble for awhile."

Speaking of trouble, they were all quickly reminded that it seemed to follow even the older turtles. "Where are they!" Ratchet bellowed over the construction noise. "Where are those stubborn reptiles! I did not give them permission to get up! Much less to be wandering around out here.

Four turtles stopped in their tracks, wide eyed as they looked at each other. And that pause gave Ratchet the opportunity to spot them. "Get over here! Who said you could get up!" He began to stomp over towards them, wrench already in his hand.

Now, Leo could have picked any of at least a dozen different ways to handle this. He settled on the most logical one in this circumstance. "Run!" He and his brothers took off like bats out of hell, easily vaulting over piles of rubble and dodging around the various construction equipment. Staying well ahead of an increasingly frustrated Ratchet as he kept up the chase, his wrench waving in the air now and his curses filled the air.

Not far away, the teens paused and turned at the commotion and were startled to see their fathers run by, wide grins on their faces and laughter echoing around them. Mere moments later the angry medbot passed next, threatening his patients with all kinds of bodily harm.

"And they tell us to stay out of trouble." Thane grumbled as he crossed his arms. "What exactly do you call this?"

His cousins just shrugged, not really sure what to tell him. But each face was holding a smile. It felt good to see their fathers act out honestly. After the fright from earlier when they thought they would lose these nuts, watching this felt very good.

And over it all, the faint laughter of a certain light goddess could be heard before it faded away.


	53. Chapter 53

"Alright Leo! Give it a pull!"

The dragon turned draft beast did just that. Carefully pulled the large slab of broken metal and concrete away with his paw. Normally Donnie would be the one to do this, he was the earth dragon after all, but the second youngest was on the ground, watching the pile of rubble very closely in case the pile decided to shift the wrong way. Which is exactly what it did.

"Hold it!" Donnie called out again and Leo froze. "Raph! Take a little off of the other side, that whole end is about to collapse."

The second dragon meticulously cleared away the wobbly rubble Donnie was worried about. Knowing that if he wasn't careful the lanky turtle would probably rip his tail off. Donatello didn't anger often, but when he did...

"That should be good. Try it again Leo."

Once more the eldest pulled the slab away, and once again was forced to stop as the whole pile shifted. Donnie removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes in frustration. This was going to take forever at this rate.

After a few more move and stops, they were at least able to get it to the point Raph could hold the remaining rubble up with his shoulder as Leo moved the large slab out of the way. Finally, Donnie had eyes on their goal. "Mikey! Go ahead and pull it out! Carefully!"

The youngest dragon walked up and reached in with his massive head, clamped down on the object and oh so slowly pulled it out. For once, paying attention to nothing else than what his task was. But it became apparent by the look on Donnie's face that it wasn't in the best condition. Mikey finally cleared the family van from what was left of the garage it had been stored in and his dragon brothers let the rubble fall where it had been.

"It's ruined..." Donnie moaned as he looked it over. The rest of his family who had gathered to watch looked at him with sympathy. He had spent a long time and a lot of effort in putting it together over the years, and they all shared fond memories of it. It stung them more than a little as Donnie walked around the badly damaged frame of what had been their mode of transportation. "It's going to take me months to fix it back up...even with Dennis and Dante's help..."

Mikey, who had by now gone back turtle along with Leo and Raph, placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "It's alright bro. We still got the old van. It'll do until you get this beast up and running again."

"But we don't all fit in it!"

The teens looked at each other a bit nervous before Ty cleared his throat. "Um, Uncle?"

"What!" Donnie almost snapped as he still surveyed the damage. Now from the dented roof.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that..."

"Of course I have to worry about that! I can't have you all riding around on the roof!"

"We won't be riding on the roof Uncle. Because we aren't going back home."

That snapped Donnie out of his funk and he stopped and stared at his nephew. So did all the other parents. The teens shifted uncomfortably under those long stares.

"You want to run that by me again son?" Leo asked in a calm tone as he walked closer.

"We want to stay here Father." An eyeridge came up as those blue eyes themselves kept boring into him as Leo crossed his arms, waiting for an explanation. "It's just that we don't want to leave our mates. And that's what will happen if we go home. There isn't room in the lair for them to come, and we won't ask them to leave NEST. So this is the only way we can be with them."

"You could use the groundbridge to see them."

"We could, but we don't want too. The fact is Father, it's time we moved out."

"I assume this has been agreed among all of you?"

"Yes." Lavi answered. "We even discussed it with Will and Prime. They are willing to set us up here, so we are still somewhat close to home."

Vicky looked on with sad eyes, but a small smile on her lips. "I think our turtlelings just outgrew the home nest and graduated to the NEST nest."

Leo then turned and exchanged looks with his brothers, his eyes unreadable. Mikey was biting his bottom lip as he pulled Caitlin close to him. Donnie had sat down on top of the van, his legs hanging over the side as he looked at his yellow masked son. Raph had crossed his arms, a slight scowl on his face as he took this information in. "I'm not going to come here every other day to bail your asses out of trouble." The large turtle finally grumbled.

"Pfft." Thane replied, the almost exact same expression on his face. "Good. Was getting tired of the constant smothering."

Raph had a slight smile on his face.

"At least I don't have to worry about them tearing my new training room apart again." Donnie said dryly as he hopped down. "Still haven't finish the repairs in it."

Dante shrugged at him wryly. "In my defense, I did try to turn it off. Not my fault you made the controls so complicated."

"So, Ari." Mikey walked over to his daughter. "You think you are going to have more fun here than at home with your pops huh."

"Of course."

"I got video games."

"So does he."

"I can cook."

"We got a bigger kitchen here. He can learn."

"Hah! But does he have a cool skateboard like mine?"

"No." Ari admitted and Mikey grinned. "But he has an awesome dirtbike. He's even going to get me some gear so I can ride with him." The grin faded. Caitlin was trying not to laugh at the flat look on her turtle's face.

Mikey finally turned away and stomped back over to his wife. "First he out pranks me, now he's stealing my daughter." He grumbled as he went. "Damn overachiever."

Leo had by now turned his attention to his own children. "You sure this is what you want?"

"Very." Ty said firmly. "Please Father, we still love and respect you, but it's time we moved on. You have had a chance to be happy with Mother, don't we get the same opportunity?"

His eyes finally softened as he smiled. "Of course you do." A hand found it's way onto a relieved Ty's shoulder. "No more are you the student, and thus no more need to be bound at home to us. If you can beat your father and trainer, you more than deserve the right to make your own choices."

The grins on their faces was like the sun coming up and Lavi threw her arms around Leo in a hug. "Thank you Daddy..."

"Now, that doesn't mean you get so busy you completely forget about us and don't come to visit."

"We will. We already talked to Jazz about setting up a permanent ground bridge drop off site. Far enough away from the lair so no one can track the energy surge, just in case it does pop up on someone's radar."

"Gave this a lot of thought, haven't you?"

She smiled up at him as she stepped back again. "Yeah. To be honest, the hardest part was telling you guys. Everything else seemed to just fall into place."

"Leo!"

The turtle in question turned at the sound of his name towards Dennis, who was running up. And Leo didn't like the look on the young man's face. "What's wrong?"

"This!" He handed his adoptive father a datapad he had been carrying. "It's all over the news."

Leo looked down at the images playing, and began to curse violently. Vicky, who had come to look around him, sighed at the images. "I was scared this would happen." She rubbed her face in frustration. "There were all kinds of cameras out in that town. They have plenty of footage."

Leo just kept cursing, now under his breath, at the images shown in the news broadcast playing. Images of four dragons. Then he finally shook his head and handed the pad back to Dennis. "It couldn't be helped."

"What are we going to do about it Leo?" Mikey asked, his face very worried.

"Nothing we can do little brother. The secret is out about the dragons." He grew quiet, his eyes searching for some kind of answer and he seemed to find it. "I think it's time we laid low."

Raph snorted. "We always lay low." He winced a little as he looked at the datapad. "Well...usually..."

"I mean permanently."

His brothers stared at him. "You can't be serious." Raph asked, stunned.

"Very. If we keep going out, sooner or later we will be tempted to go dragon again and that will bring all kinds of trouble close to our home. I won't risk it. It's time to retire."

"Never thought I would hear you say that..." Donnie was looking at Leo in astonishment.

"Never thought I would have too, until now." Leo sighed.

"But, we don't have to go now, right?" Mikey asked. "I want to stay a bit longer Leo. I'm not ready to give up both the kids and patrols just yet."

"I agree with Mikey." Donnie added. "We did kind of wreck their base, it wouldn't be fair if we just ran off now."

"I think it would be alright if we stay guys. But no more dragons."

Vicky pouted a little at that. "Never again? Can I just get one more dragon ride before you hang up the wings for good? Please?"

Leo was about to firmly tell her no, but those brown puppy dog eyes she threw his way did him in and he found himself, unsurprisingly, relenting. "Fine, but only a short one. And you will have to wait for tonight."

The childlike glee in her that made her hop up and down while clapping her hands with excitement brought a smile to his face. It was so easy to make her happy sometimes.

His attention was then turned away from her when Adam came stomping up with a grinning Kyle following him at a more casual pace, a scowl on his face and a NEST cap pulled low over his head. "You!" He thundered at Mikey. "Come here!"

Mikey had other ideas as he backed up. "Nope. I think I'm good over here."

"What crawled up your ass?" Raph asked the soldier as he still stalked in on Mikey.

"He did!"

Raph turned to glare at the still backing up Mikey. "What did you do now?

"Nothing..." Came the fake innocent answer.

Kyle just reached over and took the ballcap off of his friend's head before Adam could slap the arm away. Underneath it was neon green hair...and his eyebrows were missing.

"Nothing permanent anyway..."

"You are so dead!" Adam broke out into a charge.

Mikey turned and ran at that point. "Hah! You may take my daughter from me but you'll never out prank Dr. Prankenstein!" Then he howled with laughter as he disappeared behind a bulldozer with Adam chasing him.

High on a ledge overlooking the construction site, the soft laughter of Amaterasu filled the air as she watched the scene play out before her. And it wasn't alone. Four other soft chuckles joined hers from the vaguely shaped forms of elements that floated around her, the only indication that they were more than what they seemed to be were the yellow eyes that formed in them.

"Your charge is quite amusing Morokuma." The ball of mist told the small whirlwind.

"Yes Mizuchi, I know."

"I must admit mistress." The floating cloud of dust told the goddess. "I do not wish to see them hide away. The world will be at a loss if they do."

"Nor do I Tschuchi, but it is their choice."

"A choice they will be forced to change." Futsu grumbled from his ball of smoke. "I foresee others of power attempting to seek them out to test them."

Amaterasu nodded her agreement. "As do I. I fear now that other immortals may have taken note of them. I am not so certain this will bode well."

"But their power isn't a threat to any house hierarchy. Why would they become targets?" Morokuma's eyes shifted to the light goddess.

"Because of their potential. It was not intended that they engage Unicron, but they did so. And was able to assist in bringing him down. Other house leaders may see this as a threat if they were to find stronger individuals than the Prime to fight alongside."

"There are some who would make worthy allies." Mizuchi quietly noted.

"Indeed." Amaterasu agreed. "But neither side is prepared for that meeting, and I will not force it. Events will unfold on their own to make it happen."

"And when those events unfold Mistress, what side will you choose in this confrontation?"

"I will stand firm by my champions Mizuchi." Her eyes flashed a moment. "And beware the gods foolish enough to try and interfere."

They then just turned quietly back to the family below them, once again watching these strange creatures that had held such a large burden on their shoulders, and carried it easily. A smile found it's way on her face again. "Enjoy your rest champions. It was well earned." Then she and her companions faded out of sight.

 **Author's note: Alright folks... That's a wrap for this one. Thanks for tuning in and I hope you enjoyed it. I always did love the dragon storyline in the 2003 series and since I seriously doubt we will get a movie version of that, I made my own version of it. This particular story means a lot to me and I put a lot of thought and research into it, and I hope it was worth the read, and the effort I put into writing it. See you at the next story! ;)**


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